


Riptide

by Saint11Icarus



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-03-29 03:35:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3880702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saint11Icarus/pseuds/Saint11Icarus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cute Surfer Girl AU.  Cophine, young love, and salt water.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_August 14th, 2015. 6:33 AM_

Beth’s yellow eyes sang of the sun’s arrival over the horizon. And they were at the cusp of it, nothing to break their view but glittering, open water. Like they could reach out and touch the sun. It set flame to their tangled, salty, hair until it stung hot against their wetsuits. Alison paddled towards them; she sat up and twisted her hips to spin her board to a stop next to Beth’s, their knees brushing. Beth shifted her weight, water rocking under her, until her lips met Alison’s. The cool morning air blew the heat from any uncovered skin, but Beth’s lips were warm and salty. She reached for Alison’s board with a steadying hand when the other girl melted against her.

Cosima watched them over her shoulder, squinting into the harshness of the new day. From behind them came a swell, a rearing, untamed thing, it was her wave. She moved away from the couple and paddled strongly, her tanned arms catching the water until she felt the familiar push of the ocean against her.

From behind the lens of her camera, Delphine saw it all: she saw Cosima get taken by it, she saw bare, muscular, arms lift the surfer on the board as the wave pushed her in the air. The shutter clacked, once, twice, three times, and it was the only thing Delphine could hear past the diffused laughter that the wind blew in from the sea. When the dreadlocked surfer lost her fight with the wave Delphine twisted her lens to focus on the two girls waiting their turn. They were twin dots of black against the backsplash of fiery heat, another wave came and the next girl stood, arms out. Beth’s limbs were fashioned wings, feathers and wood— with each dip of her knees, with each pump of her thighs against the spitting crest, waxwater dripped from her fingertips.

Cosima sputtered the water from her nose and pulled herself onto her board, swinging her leg over it. She watched Beth slide off the back of the wave she was riding as it neared the shore. The tide carried Cosima to the shallows where Beth was waiting for her. They slid into the water and trotted onto the sand with boards tucked under their arms.

“Enjoying the view?” The sand still held to the cool of the night as it tried to swallow Cosima’s feet, she pushed through, nearing the tall blonde who was still snapping photos of them. Her dark eyes were locked onto the lens.

Delphine followed Cosima and Beth with an eye in the view finder until they were in arms reach. She lowered the camera and smiled shyly. “Maybe. Do you mind?”

Cosima shook her head, rivulets of water sliding off her dreads to soak into her wetsuit. “Nah,” as if in acknowledgement of Delphine’s accent, she added, “it’s a free country.”

Delphine chuckled, “So it is.”

“I’m Cosima,” She stretched out a hand.

“Delphine,” They shook, and when Cosima released her hand Delphine offered hers next to Beth.

“Beth.” Another shake. Beth’s ponytail bobbed when she looked over her shoulder, “And that’s Alison.” As if on cue, Alison dropped to her knees when she approached the shallows, her fingertips running through the water she as her board glided over it.

Delphine barely noticed Alison— Cosima hadn’t broken eye contact since Beth had released her hand. Alison was saying something, and the noise snapped a wide grin onto Cosima’s face. Delphine was still squinting into the sun, but she managed to make out Alison’s outstretched hand.

“Will you lot please go get changed, I’m bloody starving, and Helena’s looking at me like I’m a roast.” Sarah was striding towards them with Helena hot on her heels. They were coming from the locker rooms with boards tucked under their arms, suits draped over the edges of them. It took visible effort to move across the beach and the twins’ calves flexed with the strength it took to keep them upright over the shifting sand.

“Yeah, we should really get going.” Beth said, to Delphine more than anyone.

“Yeah,” Cosima sounded sad until something clicked behind her brown eyes, “but you could totes come, if you want. Are you hungry?”

Sarah shared a confused glance with Beth and Alison who just shrugged in unison.

“Eeuh, sure, I guess.” Delphine’s hazel eyes darted around the circle of friends before they fell back to Cosima’s. “If no one minds?”

“I couldn’t care less, let’s just go, yeah?” Sarah said, “get changed.” She waved her arms in the direction of the locker room.

Cosima smiled and nodded, her dark eyes still trained on Delphine’s face. “Cool, cool. I’m going to go change real quick, don’t go anywhere.” She held her hands up, like the gesture alone would be enough to keep Delphine from wandering back to her bike and pedaling home.

She glanced over her shoulder at the tall girl who, in the heartbeat since they’d walked away, had managed to persuade the twins to pose for pictures. Beth followed her gaze, “Yo, Niehaus, you alive?” She waved her hand in front of Cosima’s eyes.

The dreaded surfer snapped out of her stupor and turned her attention to Beth. “She is beautiful, right? I mean, it’s not just me?”

Alison’s laugh was light and airy, “It’s not just you.” She reached for the rickety wooden door to the locker rooms; sand ground in its hinges making it squeal loudly when she tugged it open. “In, in, in,” she caught the door with her hip and waved them through with the scooting motion of her hands.

Cosima was sliding into a shower stall as the door groaned shut, looking up into the sputtering spray of water. “She’s French too? That was French, right?” She poked her head out of the stall and into the next for confirmation.

“Yeah, sounded like it.” Beth was reaching up to tilt the shower head until the stream of hard water was falling straight down on her head.

“French,” Cosima was hanging on the wall, her eyes losing focus as she drifted off in thought, “that’s crazy hot.”

Beth stopped tugging at her zipper to shove her hand in Cosima’s face and push her head out of the stall, “Yeah, really sexy. Do you mind?”

Cosima dipped back into her stall and unzipped her sleeveless wetsuit. “She’s tall too, she’s got to be at least fifty-seven percent legs! Did you guys see her legs?”

“We saw her legs, Cosima.” Alison scoffed from the next stall down.

She rolled down her suit, shimmied it over her hips, and started tugging it off from the bottoms where it cut off mid-thigh. “Neither of you sound impressed.” She wrung the wetsuit out and held it up under the shower head to rinse out the saltwater.

Beth was already turning off her shower and padding out into the locker room, “It’s not that we’re not impressed, Cos. She was gorgeous, there is no denying that.”

“Ugh,” Cosima groaned, dropping her suit on the floor and running her hands over her body, slicking off sand. “You two are gross with your happy monogamy.”

Alison’s shower clanged off, “We accept and love you... even if you can’t seem to settle down.”

Cosima stuck her dreaded head out of the shower to glare at Alison’s naked form, “Excuse me, we’re only eighteen. I refuse to feed into this culture’s obscene need to tie myself down to the first person I stumble across.”

“Oh please,” Beth laughed as she leaned closer to the locker, fitting a small key she wore around her neck into the lock. The noise of of the squeaky door echoed through the room, “Niehaus, you’re too busy feeding into this culture’s obscene need to urge over-sexed teens into bed with every conventionally attractive woman they see.” Alison joined in with her own round of laughter and took the pile of clothes and the towel Beth offered her in both hands.

She scooped the bundle of neoprene off the tile floor and spun the faucet dial until the water stopped flowing. “Yeah, keep on laughing, you jokers.” Cosima flung open the shower curtain “I’m just keeping my options open.” She marched out into the locker room, the wet bottoms of her feet picking up gritty granules of sand as she walked. She was silent for as long as she could be, but she was only halfway through jamming her key into the lock when she broke and loudly asked, “D’you think she’d sleep with me?”

“Cos!” The couple groaned in unison and Alison reached out to swat at her.

The girls dressed quickly, donning bikinis instead of actual undergarments under loose, flowing t-shirts, tiny jean shorts that sat low and cut off just below the crotch. It took Cosima both hands to lift the weight of her locs out of the back of her shirt collar. Alison pulled her friend’s hands away by her wrists, arranging Cosima’s heavy strands with practiced fingers.

“I suppose we should catch up with the twins,” Alison sighed.

Beth hummed and nodded, “If we don’t hurry up Helena might eat that French girl before you get the chance, Cos.”

“Har har.” Cosima was the first to grab her board and push her way out the door, mumbling under her breath, “Fucking smart ass.” She walked slow enough for the jogging duo to catch up to her with relative ease, “You think she’s any good with that camera?”

“Hoooo, boy.” Beth shook her head and spun her surfboard around her body until it was tucked under her other arm, Alison grabbed her newly freed hand. “You got it bad, Niehaus.”

The sand they kicked up clung to their damp legs on the walk back towards the entrance to the beach. Delphine hadn’t left after all, she was sitting on top of a precarious looking wooden fence along the brush-line with her heels resting against the lower beam. She had her camera up to her face and was snapping away at Sarah and Helena who’d devolved into playing in the sand against a backdrop of the still-rising sun and their surfboards— stuck up straight in the shifting ground.

“I’d love to see your photographs sometime,” Cosima smiled smooth and easy and leaned against the fence close enough to Delphine for their bare arms to brush.

The blonde turned at the waist and snapped a close-up of the grinning teen— mostly teeth, cheek, and eye. “Yes, I imagine you would.” Her tone was flirtatious enough to make Cosima’s grin twist into a smirk, lips closing over prominent canines, head dropping to the side.

“Come on, Romeo, you know how grouchy Ali gets when she’s hungry.” Beth slapped Cosima on the back of the head as she passed.

Cosima was slow to open her eyes, groaning inwardly with embarrassment. “Yeah, yeah.” She pushed off the fence and extended a hand to Delphine, “You like pancakes?”

Delphine laughed, “I wouldn’t put my trust in anyone who doesn’t.”

“A smart girl,” Cosima smiled and helped her down to the ground. “My car is right over there,” she gestured towards the parking lot where the other teens were already heading, “you want a ride?”

Delphine hummed and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, Cosima’s gaze was drawn to the shine of it when it popped back out, “I rode my bike. I have to be at school in a few hours.”

Cosima perked up, forcing her eyes back up to meet the blonde’s, “School? Where do you go?”

“JFK?”

The shorter girl grinned wide again and Delphine lifted her camera to take a quick snap “We all go to JFK, I’ll be happy to give you a ride. We can come pick up your bike after school?”

It only took a few moments of restless thinking, twisting her body back and forth at the waist and threading her fingers together, before she answered with a bobbing nod, “Okay.”

Cosima reached up and brushed blonde stands aside when Delphine’s cloud-like hair caught with the wind and blew across her face. “Cool. Awesome. Totally.” 

They stood that way— just smiling at each other with their ankles crossed, balancing against the breeze coming off the water— until Sarah’s harsh voice cut across the beach. “Oi! I’m going to beat you twats upside the head if we don’t get going!” She was standing on top of Cosima’s car, strapping boards to the roof.

The walk to the car was a short one made longer by Delphine’s untrained steps over the perpetually moving sand. Cosima steadied her with a palm against the small of her back and a gentle smile. She dropped her hand when they hit the boardwalk and Delphine bent over to shake out her flip-flops.

“Don’t bother,” Cosima said with a laugh, “there’s no escaping the sand here.”

Delphine bent at the waist again and slipped her shoes back on. She looked up at Cosima and pushed her wild hair behind her ear, “So it seems.”

Beth reached into Cosima’s car through the open driver’s side window and pulled the lock up. “How are we going to manage with six?”

Cosima scoffed and spoke loudly to be heard over the wind, “I don’t know, Ali can sit on your lap or something. Figure it out.”

It took some thinking but they all managed to pile into the five-seater— Alison, being the smallest, ended up crunched in Beth’s lap with her legs stretched out across the twins. Every bump in the road sent her head crashing into the low roof.

Cosima pulled her sunglasses from the visor and flipped it down, catching a joint as it fell, “You smoke, Delphine?”

“Oh, only cigarettes.” Her long legs took up most of the less-than-adequate leg room in the small car, but she looked comfortable enough, pushing her hair back as a breeze whipped through the speeding car.

Sarah piped up from the back, “You got a problem with weed or something?”

Delphine twisted to see her and shook her head, “No, I’ve just never…” she shrugged.

A mischievous grin spread across Cosima’s face, she ducked her head and took her hands off the wheel to shield the flame while she sparked the joint. She dropped the lighter in the cup holder that separated them and let out a puff of sweet-smelling smoke, holding the twisted paper up for the French girl, “Whatdaya say, Delphine? Are you up for experimenting?”

The double-meaning of her words didn’t go unnoticed and neither did the way Delphine tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, “Well, I’ve never been one to turn down a scientific experiment.”

“For science, then.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, dialogue is boring, so I made you a whole chapter full of it.

_August 15th, 2015. 7:56 AM_

Delphine leaned over Cosima’s shoulder, her hair falling down to tickle the shorter girl’s cheek, “It looks like we have Chemistry together.”

Cosima’s eyes darted up from her schedule momentarily as the words registered. She let out a snort and looked back to the slip of paper in her hand. “That is…” her head tilted, “amazing news.” She tried valiantly to suppress the smile that pulled at her lips, eventually having to suck them into her mouth to stop its spread.

Beth stood in front of them and read Delphine’s schedule upside down, “All AP classes? Dang, girl.”

“Hot and French?” Alison cocked a hip and dropped her forearm over Beth’s shoulder.

Cosima shot her a glare and opened her mouth to speak but Beth interrupted her, “And the hot French exchange student has three classes with your equally hot girlfriend, Ali. You jealous?” She held up her schedule for everyone to see— “Advanced Grade 12 English, Phys Ed, and Journalism.”

Delphine’s smile shone and she held up a hand and Beth met it with an enthusiastic high-five. “I look forward to it.”

“I bet you do,” Sarah sauntered over, “is everyone at this school a raging dyke?”

“Sarah!” Cosima scolded and tore the girl’s schedule out of her hands. “We have History together,” she said, quickly comparing the two pages.

Sarah pressed her palms together and looked upward, mouthing thanks to whatever gods were watching, “That is excellent for my History grade, then.”

Cosima rolled her eyes, “I’m not letting you copy all of my homework this year.”

“Yeah ya are,” Sarah flung her arm around the dreaded girl’s neck, “but you can keep on tellin’ yourself that if it helps you drift off at night… you’ll need all the sleep you can get if you’re going to pass History for the both of us.” She patted Cosima’s cheek affectionately. “Right then, everyone off?” She pulled Cosima along towards their History class. “Meet back up at lunch? Same spot as always?” She didn’t wait for an answer, just threw a hand up over her shoulder, “Great!”

Delphine turned to Beth, finding the girl rolling her eyes. “Let’s get to class, Frenchie,” she gestured in the direction they needed to go and started walking.

“Not without saying goodbye, you don’t.” Alison grabbed Beth’s hand and pulled her back. “Kiss,” she pursed her lips and smiled when Beth met her, hands coming to rest on slender hips. “Now, get out of here.” And as the girls walked away she called after them, “Don’t be late!”

Beth spun and blew her girlfriend another kiss, “You’re the one standing around. I’s a long walk to the science wing— better start running!”

Delphine glanced back as well, trying to hide her smile at Alison’s frantic checking of her phone, the flustered girl power-walking off in the opposite direction. “She is funny.”

Beth snorted, “That’s a very kind way of putting it. She’s…unusual, that’s for sure.”

“But in a cute way.”

A grin, “A very cute way, yes.”

Delphine folded her schedule neatly, looking up occasionally to avoid bumping into crowds of students. “How long have you two been together?”

Beth’s lips twisted into a serious frown as she thought, her head dropping back, “Uhhh, forever, I think.” She cracked a wide, open-mouthed smile, “There was never a— a moment, at least not that I can remember. We’ve just always _been_.”

The blonde smiled wistfully. “That’s so romantic.”

Beth shrugged and pulled Delphine aside by the elbow, “Here it is. English,” she spread her arms wide, “is it everything you hoped it would be?”

Delphine smiled warmly, though her eyes had a nervous glint, “I’m afraid English is my worst subject.”

Beth cracked a grin, “ _AP English_ is your worst class? I’d hate to know what your best is.”

“Chemistry,” Delphine answered without pause, walking through the door Beth politely held open for her. “I’ve always been better with science. Metaphor and symbolism are often lost on me,” she blushed, “I prefer hard facts, quantifiable data,” she brought the edge of her hand down into her open palm for emphasis.

They chose seats next to each other. “Ah, well, here is a hard fact for you— English is my _best_ subject… and I’m here to help.”

Delphine smiled and reached across the aisle to pinch Beth’s arm, “My knight in shining armor.”

Beth bowed as deeply as she could in the confines of her chair, “I try, m’lady.”

The French girl released her bottom lip after a beat to ask, “And your friend, Cosima?”

“Ah, a science gal as well,” Beth nodded, “you’ll be in good company in Chemistry.”

Delphine fell silent save the quiet, vibrating, hum behind her tightly pressed lips.

Beth watched her with a knowing smile, studying her profile, “Do you, uh…” she shrugged, “like chicks?”

A bright red blush flared up Delphine’s face from the collar of her shirt, “Oh! No.”

Beth mouth twisted in a frown but she shrugged it off, “No big deal. We’ve got lots of friends who aren’t gay.”

Delphine held out her hands in response, “It’s not—I just—” she gave a small smile and took a breath, “I’ve never…” she waggled her hands.

Beth shrugged again and tried to hide the grin threatening to break across her face. “Whatever floats your boat.”

“Boys.” Delphine nodded firmly. “Boys float my boat,” her mouth struggled around the colloquialism.

Beth opened her book and pretended not to hear the muttered ‘I think’ that drifted across the aisle.

***

_August 15th, 2015. 12:45 PM_

Delphine had no idea where the “usual spot” to meet for lunch was. Luckily Beth and Alison swooped in behind her, Alison bent low with her hands at Delphine’s hips, Beth standing tall with an arm over her shoulder, and urged her forward into the lunchroom— and then straight out the door other the other side.

She giggled and twisted side-to-side to look at both of them, “Where are we going?”

Delphine was becoming accustomed to Beth’s toothy grin, “We eat outside—”

“—Weather permitting—”

“—There are picnic tables around the side of the building.”

Delphine couldn’t keep up with their frenetic back-and-forth, the endearing way they spoke for each other and finished each other’s sentences. “Oh!” She smiled, sucking her lip between her teeth and giving up on trying to walk herself, instead letting the pair push her along a thin outdoor alley full of electrical equipment. They squeezed through a small opening and immediately came upon a beautiful courtyard. Low, knee-high, decorative walls and bushes partially enclosed the space, which was dotted with six round picnic tables— all grated and sprayed with some kind of purple rubber sealant to protect them from teenagers and the elements.

Cosima and the twins were already at a table. The tattooed surfer sat across from Helena while Sarah, instead, chose to use the tabletop as a seat. Her Converse sneakers rested on the bench by her bleach-blonde sister and her peaked knees and bare shoulders soaked up the sunlight. Cosima lit up when she saw them approaching, her fang-filled smile scrunching her eyes in the corners. A blush crept up Delphine’s neck at the sight of Cosima’s pink tongue poking through the gaps in her teeth.

Beth and Alison deposited Delphine on a bench and took up the one opposite her. Alison unzipped her backpack and started unpacking lunches, “Peanut butter and banana,” she passed the zip-locked sandwich to Cosima. “BLTs,” these went to Beth and Sarah, who reached for them with excited eyes and grabby hands. “Ham and cheese for me, and…” Helena was on the edge of her seat, her brown eyes vibrating in their sockets, “that’s it!” The blonde’s face fell immediately and all of the girls laughed. Delphine smiled and glanced around the group, still unsure of the joke. “I’m just joking Helena, don’t cry. Here you go, sweetie.” Alison dug in her bag and produced a sandwich that was bursting at the seams, greasy yellow smeared over the inside of the bag— “Anchovies and mustard.”

Helena’s palms slapped against the table and she leapt into the air, her feet landing on the bench next to Sarah’s. She balanced, squatting like a frog, and gingerly took the plastic baggie from Alison’s hands. “Thank you, Alison.”

“You are very welcome, Helena.” Alison smiled affectionately at the twin. Her gaze turned on the others, more stern, “If only everyone else was so polite.”

The girls all had mouthfuls of sandwich, but chorused around their lunches, “Thanks, Ali.”

Alison nodded shortly, “Much better.” Her eyes came to rest on Delphine, her spirits falling, “Oh! Delphine, I’m sorry, I had no idea we’d be making a new friend today.”

Delphine smiled politely and waved her hand, “Non, please, don’t worry about me.”

“I can share!” Cosima sat up taller, speaking around a tacky, peanut butter-coated tongue and digging into her bag for the other half of her sandwich. She stopped mid-grab and tried to swallow the sticky mouthful, “You’re not allergic to peanuts, are you?”

Delphine’s eyes darted around the table and she ducked her head, trying to hide the redness of her cheeks. “No, I’m not.”

Cosima grinned, her teeth and lips messy, “Here,” she passed off the half-sandwich, crusts cut off, “my hands are totally clean, I promise.”

“Merci,” Delphine took the thing between pinched fingers and smiled graciously. Cosima watched eagerly while the blonde lowered her head and took a bite from the center of one side of the triangle. She pulled back with a giggle, her lips and cheeks smeared with peanut butter.

Cosima’s tongue darted out to wet her own lips and she reached across the space between them to smudge the mess from one of Delphine’s cheeks with a knuckle, “You got a little—“ she devolved into giggles.

“Oh no!” Delphine quickly set her lunch down on the bag and cleaned her face with her palms, laughing nervously and wiping her hands on her jeans.

Beth and Alison shared a look. “Cos, I bet our new friend could use a cigarette after a long morning of classes.” Beth nudged Cosima under the table, “Why don’t you show her where we go to smoke?”

Sarah finished stuffing her face and slapped her hands on her knees, “Yes!” Crumbs sprayed from her lips. Helena, too, bounced excitedly at the prospect of an afternoon joint.

Alison swatted at Sarah’s knee and gave the twins a harsh look. “Actually, you two, I thought we could go over your English homework, hmm?” Beth looked at her pointedly.

Sarah’s jaw locked open and cocked to the side, her tongue picking food from her molars. Squinted eyes met Helena’s briefly before turning on Beth. “Yeah, I guess.”

Beth’s stern expression turned to a broad grin, “Yes, excellent, FUCKING JULIUS CAESAR! I love this play!” She threw her fists in the air, shaking them passionately.

Sarah rolled her eyes, “God, you are such a nerd, Childs.”

Delphine glanced from Sarah to Cosima to Alison. Alison’s brows were arched high over eyes that darted between Cosima and Delphine expectantly, “Well? Go, go!” She shooed at them.

Cosima laughed and shoved the rest of her sandwich in her mouth as she stood, crumpling the trash in her hands and brushing crumbs off her shirt and jeans. “Oh, man,” she tried to talk around the sticky ball of food in her mouth, she gestured emphatically, “I’m sorry.”

Delphine stood and took another bite, covering her mouth with her wrist as she chewed, nodding at Cosima, “No problem,” she said, struggling to swallow herself. She could hear Sarah gagging, and Alison’s sharp warning, behind them.

She followed Cosima to the trash where the surfer dropped in her used ziplock, “We usually smoke in the car,” she gestured with her head, “out in the parking lot.”

Delphine nodded broadly, “That sounds good.”

“Uh, cool.” Cosima tried to hide her smile behind a curtain of dreads and shoved her hands deep into her pockets as she led the way.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone on tumblr asked me when the sex was happening. The sex is happening in Chapter 7 and Chapter 8, if you just want to come back when the time is...sexy?

_August 16th, 2015. 8:07 AM_

“Sarah?”

“Mmm?” Sarah shoved a boy who was in their way, pushing him into the cold stream of water he was drinking from a fountain.

Cosima glanced over her shoulder to see the boy wiping off his face and glaring at them, “Do you think Delphine is into me?”

Sarah’s eyes rolled so hard that she had to physically bend her back, “Mate, I cannot tell you strongly enough how much I do not fucking care.”

“Sarah, can you find an ounce of sympathy? Please?”

The English surfer sucked on her teeth and looked around for a moment in thought, “Ahhhh…no. Sorry.” She grabbed the door to their History class as it closed slowly behind the student ahead of them.

Cosima sighed and walked in ahead of her into the room, “You are the least supportive person I’ve ever met.”

Sarah nodded, “I’m glad you have no illusion’s about our friendship, Niehaus, it’s better that way.”

The dreaded teen flopped down in her chair and fished a brand new notebook out of her messenger bag, “At least no one can ever accuse you of being dishonest.”

Sarah let out a burst of boisterous laughter that attracted an ignored glare from their teacher, “That’s exactly right, Cos. Exactly right.”

The hour ticked by slowly and Cosima tapped the end of her pen against her notes, her bottom lip thrust out, the corner of it tight between her teeth. When she hadn’t written anything in twenty minutes Sarah glared over at her and smacked her arm, pointing angrily at the nearly blank page in front of her.

She hissed, “How am I supposed to pass if you don’t get to writing my notes?”

Cosima sighed and dropped her cheek to the cool desk, scribbling along with the teacher’s lecture. Sarah nodded briefly and dropped back into her lax position sprawled out in her chair, counting the dots on the ceiling.

***

_August 16th, 2015. 1:12 PM_

It took more than a few flicks of Cosima’s nervous thumb against the striker to light Delphine’s cigarette. The blonde was patient and smiled while Cosima fumbled with the Bic. “I swear I’ve done this before,” Cosima muttered, a blush fanning out under her brown eyes. Finally she caught a spark and Delphine leaned forward, the tip of her cigarette flaring before petering out into a gentle glow. They shared a grin and Cosima watched the thick gray smoke billow from Delphine’s nostrils. “How do you say dragon in French?”

Delphine took a heavy draw and chuckled as she blew it out the window of Cosima’s beat up old junker. “Dragon.”

“Seriously?” Cosima reached in front of the blonde to pull a perfectly rolled joint from the passenger’s visor. “It’s just…dragon?”

“Yes.” Delphine turned her head, resting it back against the exposed foam of the headrest. She watched with rapt attention while Cosima lit the end of the joint, rolling it between her fingers to get a more even burn. “What were you expecting?”

“I dunno,” the surfer muttered, puffing, her eyes crossed to look at the burning tip, “le grand serrpent, or some shit.” Her accent was atrocious and Delphine doubled over laughing. “Hey, what’s so funny!” Cosima swatted at the taller girl.

Delphine sat back up, wiping at her eyes with the backs of her thumbs, “Nothing, nothing.”

Cosima grinned and scratched her scalp as she took another drag. “Do you want a hit of this?” She asked after a beat.

Delphine bit her lip, “I don’t know if I should. We have class soon.”

“Ah, it’s just Chem,” she held it out, ember up and rolled it playfully between her fingers, “I’ll be there to help you.” Delphine eyed Cosima closely for several seconds, taking in her arched brow and whimsical smile until the brunette started shifting uncomfortably, “Hey man, no harm no foul.” She popped the thing back in her mouth and took another pull.

Delphine smiled, “The smoke, it’s a little harsh for me.” She gestured towards her throat.

Cosima pursed her lips and nodded, “Well, there’s a way to make it easier on your lungs, if that’s all that’s holding you back…”

Delphine raised a brow, “C’est vrai?”

The surfer grinned, “I have no idea what you’re saying, but it sounds nice.” She took hit and inhaled deeply, leaning her elbow against the back of Delphine’s seat and waving the blonde closer, “C’mere,” she said with a clenched throat.

Delphine bit her lip and closed the space between them. Her neck was warm under Cosima’s palm, from the sun and her natural body heat, Cosima drew her closer until their lips were nearly touching. The blonde’s hazel eyes closed as their noses brushed. Cosima smiled, her own eyes flicking down to Delphine’s instinctually parted lips. She exhaled gently into Delphine’s mouth. It took her a beat, but Delphine’s lashes fluttered and she drew in a long, deep breath that ended when Cosima ran out of smoke to share.

The surfer squeezed the back of her neck with a steady pressure, rolling the muscle under her strong fingers. “You good?”

The slightest traces of smoke trickled from Delphine’s nostrils and she blew the rest from between tight lips. She slowly opened her eyes and Cosima settled back into her seat. “Does that really work?” Delphine asked, “It doesn’t make the smoke any less harsh, does it?”

Cosima shrugged, pursing her lips and rolling her head slightly, “Probably not. I just wanted to try—”

“Brat!” Delphine shoved her shoulder gently and tried to hide her rapidly reddening cheeks behind her mane of blonde hair.

Cosima laughed and shoved back, “Oh, come on, it wasn’t so bad, was it?”

The exchange student quieted and smiled, her voice soft and low, “Non, it was not so bad.”

“That’s what I thought.” Cosima watched Delphine straighten her bracelets and ash her cigarette a few too many times to be considered anything other than fidgeting. She took another drag and licked her fingers, pinching out the burning roach. “You ready to get our chemistry on?”

“Our chemistry?” Delphine tilted her head.

Cosima rolled her eyes and licked the tackiness from her lips, “Yeah, we have chemistry this period.”

Hazel eyes shot open and Delphine stifled a giggle, working the handle and exiting the vehicle quickly, “Yes, chemistry class.”

Cosima shook her head, chuckling, and climbed, much less gracefully than the blonde had, out of the car. She slammed the door and smacked her hand down on the lock through the open window. Delphine laughed and pointed at the obvious flaw in Cosima’s logic, but the surfer just shrugged and threw an arm around the tall girl’s waist, leading her towards the school.

***

_August 16th, 2015. 2:10 PM_

Delphine shook the second to last bucket in a line of ten, keeping the bottom flat against their lab table. “Can you pass me the Magnesium Sulfate?” Cosima picked up the bottle and waggled it between her fingers until the blonde snatched it away. Delphine smiled and added the Epsom salt into the bucket. She handed Cosima a large stirring stick, “Get to work.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Cosima grinned and started stirring the mixture.

Delphine suspiciously eyed the row of ingredients set off to the side, “Cosima…”

“Hmm?” The brunette didn’t look up from her bucket.

“Where is the potassium nitrate?”

Cosima cleared her throat and shrugged, “What potassium nitrate?”

Delphine turned to look at her, holding up a bottle, “The potassium nitrate we are supposed to mix with this potassium sulfate to create the violet flame.”

“Ahh…” Cosima shook her head, “I have no idea. Just go grab more.” She jutted her jaw out towards the long table at the front of the classroom. Delphine bit her lip and cocked her head. The surfer broke under the scrutiny, “Alright, it’s in my bag, but I need it.”

“Cosima!” Delphine hissed, stepping closer and whispering, “You cannot steal lab materials.”

Cosima looked up and located the teacher. She tilted her head towards Delphine and whispered, “I do it all the time, don’t worry about it, just go grab some more. Leekie’ll never notice, dude is blind as a bat.” The exchange student hesitated so Cosima grabbed her by the hips and moved her into place in front of the bucket, “Just stir, I’ll do it.” She spoke louder, “Mr. Leekie, I need to use the washroom.”

He glanced up from another pair’s experiment, “Ah, yes, go ahead, Cosima.”

“Thanks!” She winked at Delphine and made for the door, her fingers closing around a bottle as she passed by the front table. She spun around to catch Delphine’s eye as she slid it down between her visible cleavage, continuing on through the spin and right out the door.

She strode in the opposite direction of the bathroom and made quick time to her locker, her fingers working the combination and opening the door. She glanced around before pulling the bottle from between her breasts and hiding it behind a book. “Done and done.” She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and shot Sarah a quick text, ‘I got the stuff.’

She was halfway back to the classroom when Sarah responded, ‘sweet, 2moro?’

‘nah, i’ll do it wednesday morning. it won’t take long’

‘cool’

Cosima clicked her tongue and slipped her phone back in her pocket as she pulled down on the handle and jerked open the classroom door. She strode in confidently, waving thanks to Mr. Leekie before pulling the potassium nitrate from her bag discreetly and sidling up to Delphine. “Here,” she grabbed Delphine’s hand and slapped the bottle in her palm, closing the blonde’s fingers around it, “did you miss me?”

Delphine glared at her, “Cosima, this stuff is dangerous.”

The brunette rolled her eyes, “Not by itself. It’s much more dangerous once you mix it with the sulfur I stole from the storage closet last week.” She flashed her canines at Delphine’s mortified expression, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“You’re going to kill yourself.”

Cosima pouted, “Will you cry at my funeral?”

“No.”

The bell rang and the students rushed to finish the day’s portion of the experiment. “What class have you got next?” Cosima asked, plopping a pinecone into each bucket while Delphine hurried to mix the compound.

“Journalism, with Beth.” As soon as the blonde was finished, Cosima dropped the last pinecone into the tenth bucket.

“Can I walk you?”

Delphine smiled, “I’d like that.”

Mr. Leekie spoke loudly over the clamor, “Just leave your buckets where they are, we’ll let the pinecones soak overnight and tomorrow…we’ll light them on fire!” His eyes were wide and wild and he rubbed his hands together maniacally, devolving into a dramatic interpretation of mad scientist laughter.

Cosima rolled her eyes and gathered up her things. The walk was short, but Cosima wasted no time starting conversation. “So, do you surf at all?”

Delphine laughed, “Not at all. Do I look like I surf?”

Cosima frowned, self-consciously running her hand over her dreads, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Hazel eyes widened, “No, I mean…” she held up a lily-white arm, pressing it against Cosima’s deep, rich tan, “don’t I seem a bit pale to you?”

Cosima’s head bobbed to the side, wobbled back and forth, “Ah, I see where you’re coming from.” Delphine just smiled and dropped her arm back to her side. Cosima waited only a few moments before rushing into an invitation, “I could teach you, if you want.”

Delphine smiled and ran her fingers through her hair, “I’d rather take pictures of you.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Cosima held up her hands like she was working a camera, “You’re a photographer?”

“Eh,” Delphine’s entire body leaned to the side, following her head in a sway, “if you interpret the word broadly.” She explained, “I enjoy it. I don’t think I’m very good.”

Cosima grinned, “I’m sure you’re great.”

“Maybe,” the blonde licked her lips, “maybe you will have to find out.”

“Maybe I will.” Her words were stretched up at the ends by her smirk. They slowed as they approached the journalism room. Cosima swung in front of Delphine making the exchange student stutter in her long stride. They ended up too close, nearly touching, they shared a breath. “Let me take you out after school,” she hurried to amend her statement, “out on the water…I mean. Yeah?”

Delphine bit her lip and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On Friday: Cosima gets Delphine on a surfboard...wackiness ensues. And... kissing? It's a possibility.


	4. Chapter 4

_August 16th, 2015. 4:07 PM_

It was an unseasonably warm day, and for that, Delphine was thankful. At least, she thought she was thankful— she was more confused than anything. Cosima was bent over on the other side of the car, kicking out of her shoes, shimmying out of her shorts. The brunette stood and gripped the hem of her shirt, uncrossing her arms as she pulled it over her head. It took a moment to get her heavy mass of dreadlocks out of her shirt collar— and stretched tall with arms in the air and back arched, Delphine could see every pull of muscle along the surfer’s abdomen. She tried not to focus on Cosima’s chest, thrust out and barely contained by a bikini top that looked to be a bit too small. Delphine licked her lips and looked away, “I didn’t plan to be in the ocean today.”

Cosima finally managed to get her shirt off. She tossed it into the open window of her car and strode around to the trunk, “That’s so weird to hear,” she chuckled, “we live in the water. It’s not a problem though, you can just wear your shorts, I do it all the time. I think I have a top in here somewhere, too.” She popped the lid and rummaged around for a minute before tossing a bikini top blindly in Delphine’s direction.

“Oh!” The blonde stepped to the left and caught the swimsuit. Cosima’s breasts were certainly larger than hers, but the too-small bikini the surfer was wearing appeared to be habitual and the top seemed like it’d be a decent enough fit. “The changing rooms are down there?” She pointed to the beach.

“Yeah,” Cosima hopped up onto the trunk and pressed her knees to the back windshield, her hands busily working to free her surfboard from the roof of the car. “Go ahead and get changed, I’ll meet you down by the water.” Delphine pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and turned apprehensive eyes towards the long expanse of sand between the parking lot and the ramshackle building. “Hey,” Delphine turned to see Cosima smiling at her from on top of the car, “catch.” Catching was not Delphine’s strong suit, and being called to do it twice in the span of a minute was more than a little overwhelming, but she managed to snatch the rubber spring bracelet out of the air without too much embarrassment. She looked down into her palm, there was a small key attached. “It’s Locker 110.”

“Thank you.” Delphine squinted up to smile against the sun. She clenched the swimsuit in one fist, the key in the other, and walked with as much confidence as she could muster onto the slatted wood path that led down to the beach.

By the time she’d made it to the locker room she’d given up trying to walk in her flip flops and tucked them under her arm. The door screeched and ground as she opened it, the smell of seaweed assaulting her senses. She looked for a light switch but it was already flipped on so she paused to let her eyes adjust in the dim lighting; there were only a few fully functioning bulbs, most were burnt out or flickering. Delphine ran her hand over the lockers, eyeing the numbers and counting up until she found Cosima’s. She shifted the bracelet in her hand and fit the key into the lock, turning it and opening the door. It smelled like wax and pot, strong and heady even in the wet, salty air— it was distinctly Cosima and Delphine leaned into it, breathing deeply.

She’d surprised herself, jerking back. “Qu'est-ce que je fais?” The blonde shook off thoughts of Cosima struggling out of her shirt and pulled off her own. She quickly replaced her bra with the light blue top Cosima had given her and shoved her belongings into the locker. Biting her lip, Delphine wandered to a full length mirror on the wall.

Her reflection was distorted by a long crack that branched off in several directions. She adjusted her breasts and twisted this way and that, judging the young woman staring back at her, sliding her hands up her stomach and crossing her arms. She sighed locked eyes with herself, “Je ne peux m'empêcher de penser à elle. Que m'arrive-t-il?” Delphine spun on her heel and marched for the door, fists thrust down at her sides. “Ne sois pas stupide.” She took a deep breath and reached for the handle. Her false confidence caused her to push it open with more force than she’d intended and it banged loudly against the outside of the building. She jumped at the sound, turning into it, and stumbled backwards out onto the beach.

She could hear Cosima laughing from the waterline. Delphine turned and found the surfer leaning against a longboard with its tail shoved into the sand. She was standing far from where she’d been surfing the morning before. “I didn’t want to start you on the real waves, it’s just little swells down here,” she shouted across the distance. “Easier for you to take pictures if you don’t have to fight against Mother Nature!” Cosima held up a waterproof bag with Delphine’s camera and both of their cell phones in it.

Delphine tried to quell her embarrassed blush, “Oh, merci.” Her calves were already tired of walking through the sand, but she powered through until she was standing at Cosima’s side. The brunette hadn’t taken her eyes off of her since she’d made her grand exit from the locker room. Delphine crossed her arms over her body and shrugged, “Do we just… go in?”

Cosima was quiet for a few beats, her lips curled in a smile that reached all the way to her eyes. “Uh, yeah,” she finally whispered, distracted, “after you.” She gestured towards the rolling tide.

Delphine crossed her arms more tightly, tilted her head to the side, “You first.”

Cosima laughed, “Be honest with me, Delphine. Can you swim?”

She felt the corner of her lips quirk, “Yes, I can swim.” She finally broke into a wide grin and shoved at the surfer, “I just want you to go first.”

“Come on,” Cosima’s voice was teasing and playful when she pulled her board up out of the sand and grabbed Delphine’s wrist with her free hand, “we’ll never get anywhere if you don’t get in.” Delphine let herself be pulled into the foamy water. It was a bit chilly against her ankles, but she acclimated quickly and by the time she was in up to her waist it wasn’t so bad. “Hop up.” Cosima was up to her ribs already, she patted the flat surface of the longboard.

Delphine’s jaw dropped, “What?”

Cosima’s laugh moved in and out of her like the tide lapping at her chest, “Get on the board, dork.”

“I—I don’t know how.”

Cosima spun it until it bumped against Delphine’s side, “I’ll hold it steady, just grab the rails and flop on. I won’t let anything bad happen, promise.” She gestured to both sides of the board to show the tall girl where to hold it.

Delphine worried her lip and gently gripped the fiberglass, “Just…right on?”

“Yeah, flat on your belly.” It shifted and wobbled under her, but mounting the board was easier than she’d expected. Cosima’s strong arms stopped it from moving away from her as she clambered on. Delphine jumped when she felt motion at her ankle. “Whoa! It’s me,” Cosima grinned and lifted her hand out of the water, she was holding the leash, “don’t want to lose you out there.”

“Oh.” Delphine sat up slowly and lifted her heel onto the board in front of her. She watched Cosima’s tanned fingers fit the velcro together. The brunette smiled up at her when she was finished. “All done?”

“Mhm. Let’s go.” She threw her water bag up in front of Delphine and pushed off the ocean floor, gliding backwards through the water, pulling the tall girl along with both hands on the longboard’s nose. Delphine smiled, she could feel the motion of Cosima’s legs working under her until they were in deeper water. “This place is as good as any, I guess.” She slowed to a stop. “Scoot back a bit,” Cosima leaned onto the nose as the blonde slid towards the tail, “thanks.” She lifted herself gracefully over the board and settled in place.

Delphine felt the uneasy fluttering of butterflies in her stomach seeing Cosima so in her element. The surfer was adjusting her dreadlocks against her back, twisting to look out at the open water. Delphine’s fingers had a mind of their own— unzipping the bag and pulling her camera out. Before she knew it, she was looking through the viewfinder.

The clack of the shutter pulled Cosima’s attention back to Delphine. An enormous smile spread over her face, “Already?”

The blonde bit her lip and lowered the camera, voice soft and serious, “I can’t help it, you’re so beautiful. You look like you belong out here.”

“Yeah, well,” Cosima reached across the distance to nudge Delphine’s hands up and away from the water that had soaked her shorts, “you’re going to wreck your camera if you’re not careful.”

She held it up to her face again, “That would be bad.” Delphine grinned from behind the camera and kicked her legs to spin them into better lighting.

Cosima smiled, her eyes locking with the lens, “Are you just going to take pictures of me all day or are you going to enjoy the water?” She slid her hips closer and dropped back to rest on her elbows. Her line-of-sight drifted out over the calm water. Wet droplets and sand from the surface of the board dusted across her bare stomach and caught the sunlight— it made her skin shimmer. 

“I can’t do both?” Delphine let her gaze wander, safely hidden behind the camera. She traveled up the plains of muscle and over the ridges of Cosima’s sternum, exposed between her breasts, all the way up to her chest, tan and smooth, to collarbones thrust outward by her body’s position.

 _Clack._

They both smiled. “Alright,” Cosima lay flat, body stretched and back bowed. _Clack._ Her hands came up to trail fingertips up the centerline of her torso and left a shining trail of water in their wake. _Clack._ She reached behind her head to grip the nose of the board, her arm cast a shadow over her face, Delphine kicked her feet and spun them until the surfer’s face was drenched in sunlight. _Clack._

Dark eyes backlit by the sun darted back to the lens, “Modeling is hard work. How do I look?”

“Amazing.” Delphine smiled.

Cosima chuckled and her abs flexed as she sat back up. Delphine barely managed to contain her stare. The brunette smacked her hands against the surface of the water, “Yeah, you too.” Her hands darted out for the camera, spinning it on Delphine. Suddenly shy, the teen ducked her head and twisted away. _Clack._ “Hey,” Cosima whispered, “look at me.”

She did. _Clack._ “Are you thinking of switching hobbies?”

The surfer lowered the camera for a fraction of a second before lifting it back to her eye. “Maybe,” _clack,_ “if it means I get to look at sexy women.”

Delphine giggled, “You can do that surfing.”

“Mmm,” Cosima hummed, “but you don’t surf.”

The blonde swiped her tongue across her lips, “Oh…”

“Oh?” Cosima leaned forward, her eyes flicking down to Delphine’s pink lips. They parted around an exhale. The muscular teen was close, too close, Delphine could smell the bees wax and hemp oil mixture that seemed ever-present on Cosima’s bare skin. She lunged forward and grabbed the camera, turning it and snapping an aimless picture to defuse the tension. Cosima blew a laugh out through her nose, mouth open and tongue tracing her teeth, “I wasn’t done with that.” Her fingers were strong and her palms were wet. The insides of Delphine’s thighs pulled uncomfortably across the surface of the board, rocking violently as the girls wrestled for the camera. Cosima’s skin was hot where Delphine found herself pressed against it. They stopped suddenly, again, too close.

The exchange student started to lean back but found herself trapped in the cage of Cosima’s arms. “I—“

“Take a picture with me.”

She could feel the tips of her ears flush with blood. She hoped it looked like the beginnings of a sunburn. “Okay.” Cosima let her go and she pulled her knees up to her chest, the cool water felt good on her suddenly overheated skin, she spun around and slid her legs back into the ocean. “Like this?” Delphine kept a safe distance between their hips and leaned back into Cosima’s body.

“Yeah.” The syllable was breathy and Delphine was thankful that Cosima sounded just as affected as she felt. She struggled not to melt into the coiled strength of the arms that wrapped around her ribs and held her tight to Cosima’s chest.

Delphine dropped her head back against Cosima’s shoulder, her hair catching with a breeze and blowing across the surfer’s face. Cosima’s laugh shook from her lungs and vibrated between Delphine’s shoulder blades. The tall girl snaked an arm around to pull wild yellow strands out of Cosima’s vision, from between her lips. “Smile,” Delphine whispered.

Cosima’s voice was slow and rolling and right in her ear, “I haven’t stopped since I saw you standing on the beach.” Delphine swallowed down the butterflies that threatened to escape through her mouth.

_Clack._


	5. Chapter 5

_August 16th, 2015. 6:39 PM_

Delphine’s shorts looked uncomfortable, weighed down with salt water and chafing against the insides of her thighs. “Do you want to go change?” Cosima asked. The wet sand at the waterline squished between her toes as she walked a pace ahead of the blonde on their way out of the ocean. “Or I can just take you home.” She looked towards the locker rooms, worried that Delphine would read the obvious hope written over her face— changing would mean a few more minutes together, and that was something Cosima wanted very much.

“I didn’t bring anything to change into.” Delphine wasn’t even looking at her, she was digging around in the thick, plastic, water bag.

Cosima frowned, “Oh yeah.”

“Here.” The blonde pulled Cosima’s cell phone from the bag and held it up for her, “You got a text. I didn’t notice it before, I’m sorry.”

“It’s chill.” Cosima shook the excess water from her fingertips and took the phone, “It was just Beth.” She looked out over the horizon for surfers, “Huh… it says she and Ali are coming out. I guess they changed their minds when they didn’t hear back from us.” She shrugged. “We should really shower. You can rinse all that salt water out of your shorts.”

Delphine looked down, her fists closing over the hem of the denim high up on her thighs. “Yes, you are probably right.” She smiled and caught Cosima’s eye, “I don’t think my host mother would appreciate the sandy laundry.”

The surfer laughed, “Nah, probs not.” They wandered towards the locker room slowly, swaying with each step, making brief flashes of eye contact. “So, did you have a good time?”

Delphine nodded, “Oui, thank you for this.”

“Yeah, totally, I had a blast.” Cosima reached out and pinched the tender skin behind the French girl’s elbow. Delphine giggled and grabbed Cosima’s hand. The brunette spun around her and poked her thigh. They quickly devolved into frantic catching and dodging, wrestling their way backwards until they reached the locker room door. “Okay, okay, you win!” Cosima squealed and hopped away when Delphine’s long fingers dug into her side. She pulled open the door and shoved the blonde into the stuffy building, both struggling to catch their breath.

One of the showers was on, spraying heavily against the plastic curtain. Cosima’s brow furrowed and she squinted in the low light. She caught sight of knees pressed to the tile and a third leg perched on tip-toes. She whipped around to Delphine and put a finger over her lips, whispering quietly “Shh.”

“What?” The blonde mouthed, confused.

Cosima tilted her head to listen. Her smile grew slowly. She pointed at the stall and mouthed, “Beth and Ali.”

Delphine didn’t make out the movements of her lips, but realization dawned quickly when Alison’s name shook from Beth’s throat. She slapped both hands over her mouth, hazel eyes wide and laughing. She uncovered her mouth to hiss, “I cannot believe it!”

“Shhh!” Cosima waved her hands in a desperate attempt to keep the blonde quiet.

Beth grunted and the standing leg trembled beneath the shower curtain. “Jesus, Ali, don’t stop. I’m gonna come.”

“Merde!” Delphine grabbed Cosima’s shoulders and drug her backwards through the door. 

They broke into loud laughter as soon as the door was shut. “Oh shit!” Cosima was doubled over and slapping a knee with one hand, the other pressed to the door’s seam as if to block their noise from slipping through the cracks and drifting to the couple’s ears. “That was priceless!”

“Oui!” Delphine had her face in her hands to hide the deep blush coloring her cheeks.

Cosima couldn’t stop laughing, but she managed to tug Delphine into the boy’s locker room by her wrists. “Come on, it’s probably quieter in here.” It was. The locker room was empty save the two giggling girls. “Man, Ali is going to have an aneurysm.”

Delphine finally uncovered her face, jaw going slack, “You cannot tell them!”

“Why not?” Cosima strode further into the room. She threw back a curtain and turned on the shower. It sputtered for a few beats before the stream found its strength.

Delphine followed and leaned into the next stall, twisting the faucet, “Because they will be so embarrassed!”

“I don’t think Beth has been embarrassed in her entire life, not even for a split second,” the brunette snorted, “she’ll love it.”

Delphine swatted Cosima’s arm, “Okay, yes, maybe. But think of poor Alison!”

Her laugh grew louder, “Alison is exactly who I’m thinking of. Oh man, the look on her face!” She grabbed at the air with tight fists like she was squeezing the sweetness out of the moment.

“Shush, be nice. She will be mortified.”

“Hella, it’s going to be GREAT!”

Delphine’s warning side-eye grew more stern until Cosima began to pout, “You’re no fun.”

A smile twisted Delphine’s lips, “I think I’ve proven that I am very fun.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cosima chuckled, “you’re right, you are.” They slipped into their showers. Cosima slicked her hands over her skin, listening intently for any chance that Delphine was trying to start up a conversation. After a minute, a thud followed by light, breezy, laughter drifted around the partition. “Are you okay?” Cosima smirked and abandoned the water to press her palms against the wall, “Do you need help?”

“Non,” Delphine was grunting and the surfer could hear her thrashing about, “my shorts were tight to begin with, but now they are wet!”

Cosima bit her grin and took the plunge, “Ahh. I’d be happy to get you out of them…” she didn’t bother to hide her mischievous tone.

Delphine fell immediately silent, all sounds of her struggle ceasing. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Cosima’s confidence faltered. She was sure the playful flirtations she’d sprinkled throughout the day had all been reciprocated. “Sorry…” she cleared her throat, “did I cross a line?”

“Eummm…” She could hear the blonde’s zipper descending and the movement started up again. “No, I just…”

“Hey, it’s cool.” Cosima tried to brush it off. She moved back under the spray and rubbed her hands vigorously over her breasts to force the salt water from her swimsuit, mentally slapping herself. “Beth mentioned that you were into guys. I-I was just messing around.”

Delphine paused and started her uneasy humming once more, “I am attracted to men, yes.”

There was a hesitation to the sentence that made Cosima slow her rinsing and turn her head towards the wall. She bit her lip, “But…?”

Delphine was silent for enough time to make Cosima regret pressing. “But nothing,” the blonde finally said, “I have never considered anything else. Society…it codified attraction.”

“Yeah…” Cosima pulled her lips into her mouth and bit down on them roughly, squeezing her eyes shut tight and bouncing on the balls of her feet. She settled when Delphine quieted again. Moving out from under the water, she slicked the droplets from her face and held her breath, eyes darting towards the wall between them.

She could hear the denim shorts slap against the tile. “I’ve never thought about being with a woman until now.”

“Until now?” It came out high-pitched. Cosima snapped her jaw shut and thudded the heel of her palm against her forehead.

“I—I don’t mean— I just—“

Cosima glanced up towards the ceiling and swallowed down a deep gulp of air. Holding in the lungful, she moved out of her shower and pulled back the curtain of Delphine’s. She let out the breath slowly, forcing her voice into an even tone, “You just?”

The blonde’s eyes were wide and her mouth hung open. She crossed her arms uncomfortably, but her gaze darted quickly down Cosima’s frame before moving back up to meet her eyes, “I—“

“Delphine…” Cosima took a cautious step forward, dropping the flimsy curtain behind her, “have I got this all wrong?” Abandoning their place hiding her body, Delphine’s palms reached behind her to find the wall, she took a step back and knocked into it. The shake of her head was barely perceivable, but Cosima was certain she’d seen it. “Tell me I’m not wrong.” She took another step into Delphine’s space.

Her tongue darted out against her lips, “Y—You’re…”

Cosima was nearly touching her, they were only a few feet apart and she was gradually closing the distance. “Do you want this?”

“I…” Delphine swallowed hard, her doe eyes dropping to the brunette’s mouth.

The girl felt electric against Cosima wherever they touched. Delphine’s hands moved out from behind her to grip forearms. She repeated her question, whispering it across the inches between them, “Delphine, do you want this?” The blonde was suddenly bobbing her head in a frantic nod. Cosima’s gaze flicked down and she leaned in, tilting her jaw upward to capture Delphine’s lips. She could feel the pressure of the taller girl lowering her head further into the kiss.

Her hands found purchase on the blonde’s ribcage, thumbs sliding tenderly across soft skin. They broke for a short breath, noses bumping and eyes fluttering open briefly to meet, closing when their lips found each other again. Delphine’s palms glided, slippery, over Cosima’s elbows. She gripped the surfer’s biceps and Cosima swore she heard a whimper when she tensed her arms.

Delphine’s tongue brushed against her bottom lip and she arched her back to maximize the contact of her body, flush against Cosima’s. Her hands continued their journey up the brunette’s arms, she cupped cheeks and drew the shorter teen closer until the Cosima leaned up onto the balls of her feet. Delphine moved an arm around her shoulders.

She teased the sharp of Delphine’s teeth with her tongue and grazed her fingertips down the blonde’s sides, over the gentle swell of her hips. She could feel the trail of goose bumps jumping up to meet her touch despite the oppressive heat in the muggy stall.

Their foreheads pressed together and they parted for air. “Cosima,” her belly flipped at the way Delphine’s accent split her name.

“Yeah?” She dropped back down onto her heels and her eyelids stuttered open.

The blonde’s thumb traced Cosima’s kiss swollen lips and her head dipped again to sooth them. “I don’t believe I have ever felt something like that before.”

Cosima swallowed and shook her head, “Yeah, no, me neither. For sure.”

“Can we do it again?”

“Hella.” She launched back up onto her tip-toes and threw her arms around Delphine’s neck.

***

_August 16th, 2015. 7:11 PM_

Cosima felt warm and fuzzy as she pulled Delphine into the open air by their clasped hands. It was nearing sunset, but in the distance she could clearly make out Beth and Alison’s silhouettes against the darkening sky. “Does today have to end?”

“Yes,” Delphine’s fingers tightened around hers and her other hand closed over Cosima’s forearm. She pressed her side into Cosima’s as they walked, hips bumping with each stride. “I wish it didn’t have to. But it is getting late and my host parents will worry. I need to get back to the school so I can get my bike.”

“Yeah…” Cosima drew out the word with a disappointed reluctance to accept their inevitable parting.

Delphine’s lips brushed against her cheek with their next step, she rolled a whisper over her tongue and the sound slid, silken, into Cosima’s ear— “You could always drive very slowly…”

Cosima grinned, “Totally. I’d hate to drive too fast and lose control of the car.”

“Safety first,” the blonde hummed and nodded.

They couldn’t walk any slower and the car was only a few yards away. Cosima spun and pressed her back to the door as soon as they reached it. Their hips met first, followed by gentle and exploratory lips. Delphine’s eyes were slow to open when they parted. Cosima smiled warmly, “Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“The same as you, I hope— going to school.”

The surfer chuckled, “After school.”

“Hmmm,” Delphine cocked her head, her sun-soaked strands glowed like a halo in the fading light. “Did you have a repeat of today in mind?”

Cosima’s gaze flickered between the French girl’s eyes and lips, “Not exactly. There’s a party… how do you feel about going?”

“With you?” Delphine held Cosima’s hands and bounced them up and down to distract from the smirk she struggled to contain.

Dark eyes rolled, “No, with Mr. Leekie—“ she shoved her shoulder into the blonde’s, “yes with me.”

“Who has a party in the middle of the week anyway?”

Cosima laughed and dropped her forehead against Delphine’s collarbone, “High school students.” There was a lull, filled only with Delphine’s thumbs stroking against Cosima’s knuckles. The brunette shifted her weight, worried her lips against her teeth, “So….no?”

“I would love to go with you, Cosima.” 

Her uneasy tension melted away with Delphine’s slow smile. She grinned, it bubbled up and escaped from between her teeth, “Rad.”

***

_August 17th, 2015. 6:10 AM_

“I cannot believe you talked me into this.”

Cosima laughed, “Oh come on, you know you wanted to help.”

Delphine smiled and cocked her head, “I admit I was curious…”

“But?”

“But this is more dangerous than I thought it would be.” Delphine tapped her fingernail against Cosima’s kitchen counter.

The kitchen was small and the girls were forced together by the cramped placement of the refrigerator and stove. Cosima had all the windows open, as well as a door that led to the poorly maintained backyard. “It’s not that dangerous,” the dreaded girl smiled, “I’ve made similar things before, I know what I’m doing.”

Delphine shifted uneasily but nodded, “Okay, fine. What do you want me to do?”

“Uhm,” Cosima’s eyes ran over the mess she’d made. She scratched her upper lip, cocking a hip. “Just…mix together the potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal together. Sift them through the screen over that bucket. I’ll start fitting the bulkheads into the tubes and drilling the nozzles.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” Delphine was hesitant to reach for the ingredients.

She flailed a hand in the air, “No, I’m sure. Go ahead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the awkward ending, there. That scene was originally quite a bit different, but I realized it read like an informal instructional on building explosives, so I just cut it all out, kind of last minute. This is a story about budding romance, not poor life choices!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, we had some technical difficulties this morning. If you follow me on tumblr, you know that the internet cut out at my work and that's why this chapter is a few hours late. Luckily it seems to have fixed itself, so we're not as late as I thought we were going to be.
> 
> I listen to music when I write and a few months ago while I was writing this chapter, Je Veux Te Voir by Yelle came on. Imagine my joy. I scrapped the idea I had planned and a new scene developed instead.

_August 17th, 2015. 8:38 PM_

The bonfire crackled high in the air, sending black smoke and sparks billowing away on the breeze. It smelled heavily of wood and flame— hot and earthy.

“Delphine!”

She heard her name shouted over the loud music and turned in time to catch Cosima running towards her through the mingling crowd, kicking up a spray as she moved with impressive speed over the sand. “Ah, Cosima,” she smiled, “I was just looking for you.”

The surfer’s head dropped to the side, top-heavy with the weight of her dreads tucked up under a slouchy beanie. “How long have you been here?” She was bundled in an oversized hoody and board shorts that hung low on her hips. It was the most clothing Delphine had ever seen her in, and she blushed at the realization that she missed seeing the long, bare, stretches of olive skin.

“Oh,” Delphine glanced around at the beach, thick with students from their school, “not long. My host family dropped me off on their way to a fundraiser.”

Cosima scoffed, “Who has a fundraiser on a Wednesday night?”

“Rich people.” Delphine smiled and shrugged.

“So, if the grown ups are away, Delphine can stay and play?” The brunette’s hands found her waist and invited her to step closer.

Delphine chuckled and leaned into Cosima, “Oui, all night.”

The flames flickered and flared in the shine of Cosima’s teeth, “Sick, sick…” Delphine struggled to tear her eyes from the shorter girl’s mouth. “Did you want to do the honors?” Cosima threw a thumb over her shoulder, towards the shore, “I haven’t let anyone light it yet. I told them you did the hard work, you should set it off.”

Delphine smiled and nodded, “Are you sure I’m not going to blow my hand off?”

Cosima leaned into her, “I don’t know, are you? You’re the one who put it together.”

“I think you are trying to avoid responsibility.”

Her smile was intoxicating, her laugh like tiny bubbles that tickled Delphine’s nose— Cosima was like a young German riesling. “Nah. It’ll go off without a hitch. Come on, Sarah’s killing me.”

They walked hand in hand to the shore. The twins were standing by a row of surfboards with Beth and Alison, both of whom were unsteady on their feet with broad, sloppy smiles. Sarah greeted them as soon as they passed through the crowd of partygoers. “Hey! Glad you could make it, blondie!”

“Cosima says that you are ready to set off the fountain.” Delphine chuckled and gestured with their linked hands towards a row of thin tubes sticking up out of the sand.

Beth shoved her hands into her hoody pocket, “You’re damn right, we buried the thing an hour ago, where’ve you been?”

Alison slurred through a giggle, “Getting ready, can’t you tell?” She floated over, tugged Delphine’s hand free of Cosima’s and urged her into a spin. Delphine had to duck deeply to make it under the tiny girl’s stretched arm, “You look beautiful, Delphine.”

She felt a blush creep up her cheeks, “Thank you. You, as well.”

Helena was nodding broadly and clapping her hands, “Everyone is beautiful. Yes. Can we light the fireworks now?”

Sarah chuckled and smacked Helena between the shoulder blades, “Finally, someone with some sense. Cos says you gotta light it, Delphine.”

“Of course.” She dodged out of the way and the lighter Sarah threw whizzed past her and fell to the sand, “Oh!”

“For chrissake…” Sarah shook her head and sighed.

“I’m so sorry.” Delphine sputtered.

Cosima snatched the lighter up and shook it clean, “Don’t worry about it.” She glared at Sarah, “And don’t be such a dick, Sare.”

Sarah just rolled her eyes and flung her hands in the direction of the wick, sticking out of the end of the sand-covered PVC tube. Delphine smiled and took the lighter from Cosima’s hands— warm despite the chilly air, like she’d had them leaned up against the fire. She closed the distance to the pipe and knelt next to it, “Did you want to get everyone’s attention?”

Sarah chuckled, “I think they’ll notice when it goes off, yeah?”

Cosima laughed as well, “For sure, just light it.”

Delphine nodded and flicked the lighter, but the flame was repeatedly battered by the breeze off the water. She grumbled, frustrated, “Merde.” She was startled by Helena’s body hopping down in front of her, the pale flash of shins and knees and her bright orange shorts. She glanced up to find the blonde smiling, feral, but endearing— she said nothing, just squatted low and cupped her hands over the wick. It caught and sizzled violently. Helena grabbed her forearms and dragged her, stumbling, backwards up the shore to meet back with the group who were all hooting and hollering.

There was a long moment of unease, and Delphine wondered if the fuse had gone out. Beth took a long step forward towards the row of explosives but Cosima caught her by the back of the shirt, “How about you don’t do that? Just wait.”

“What if it’s a dud?” Sarah whispered.

Cosima was silent for a few beats and then shrugged, “I don’t know, man. I don’t think any of us should check though.”

“Well, I mean, it’s not going to… _explode_ …it’s just, sparks, yeah?” Sarah asked.

Delphine watched Cosima’s head slowly tilt to the side, saw her lips twist into an unsure grimace. The dreadlocked surfer didn’t take her eyes off the buried pipe when she opened her mouth to answer. Before she could get a word out the first piece protruding from the sand erupted into a brilliant, purple, shower of sparks, spraying nearly five feet into the air. The collective scream of terror that burst from the crowd behind them settled into a gush of “oohh’s” and “aahh’s” as the second, third, and fourth sprays went off. By the fifth, a mass of people had gathered around the display. They were cheering and raising cups— a congregation of the loudly reverent. All seven of the compartments Delphine and Cosima had painstakingly packed that morning detonated without a hitch.

The fanfare didn’t die down with the sparks, instead the party kicked up another notch. The horde of drunken students, all smiles, made their way back towards the fire. Delphine followed Cosima and her friends closer as well.

“Do you want a drink or something?”

She cleared her throat and lifted he eyes to meet Cosima’s, tinted orange by the flames, “Yes, please.”

The surfer smirked and tugged Delphine along by her hand, leading her off towards a row of coolers. “Beer, soda?”

“Wine?” She missed wine. Her host parents wouldn’t allow so much as a glass with dinner.

“Oh man, you’re like… super French.” Cosima’s laugh was muted by the crashing waves, the hooting of surfers that had seen the show from the water jogging up onto the shore, and the thrumming bass coming from nearby speakers. “It’s pretty much all PBR, but I think we’ve got some…fuckin’…” she was bent over a the waist, flipping open lids and digging into the ice one after another on a search, “wine coolers or some shit.”

Cosima’s hoody was riding up her back, her skin calling for Delphine. “I think I’ll be okay.”

But the brunette continued until Delphine gave in and pressed fingertips against her spine. She glanced over her shoulder, “Yeah? You’re good?”

The tall girl nodded and pulled her lip tight between her teeth.

The song changed and with it came a rousing shout: “Fuck YESSSSS!” Delphine’s head snapped around to follow the sound. Beth, both hands in the air and occupied with beers, was dancing near the fire. Or, she was dancing as well as she could with Alison limply hanging on her. “This song is my SHIT!”

“Mmm,” Cosima rose up next to Delphine’s side, “Beth is hella crossfaded.” Alison had her arms wrapped around Beth’s waist and her head resting on the girl’s chest. Her eyes were open and glassy, glued to the fire, and rolling slowly with each blink. “Ali, too.”

Delphine smiled, “Yes, I had noticed.”

“Do you want this, babe?” Beth lowered one of the drinks she was holding to Alison’s mouth and tried to tip the liquid cleanly. Alison was loose-lipped and Beth’s hands unreliable— they ended up spilling the beer between them, soaking into both of their hoodies. “Fuck alllllll…” Beth groaned loudly. Her demeanor changed from frustrated to ecstatic in a flash and she screamed like an animal towards the night sky, as if she’d just remembered— “I love you, Alison Hendrix!”

Cosima’s eyes rolled, “Oh man, they’re shittier than I thought.”

“Schwaisty faceded.” Delphine nodded, her accent bumbling around the rocky words.

The brunette turned a shocked expression on her, “I didn’t know schwaisty was a thing in France.”

Delphine threw her head back laughing and swatted at Cosima’s arm, “It is not, I heard it over there—“ she flapped a hand in the general direction of the area where the surfer had first found her. “What a strange term.”

Cosima snorted, “Yeah, it is pretty weird.” Her eyes widened, “Oh crap! This is the last song.”

“What?”

She wobbled her hand back in forth in front of her, “I DJ on the side, Sarah and I, we’re actually working this party.” She threw a thumb over her shoulder to the wooden platform set up a short distance away, “This is the last song on the mix.” Delphine let Cosima lead her to the sand-covered steps and they hopped up onto the wood together. “Do you want to pick the next song?” Cosima was scrolling through a long list of music. 

Delphine slid behind her and lowered her chin to the girl’s shoulder, squinting against the artificial brightness coming from the laptop’s screen. “What do you have?”

“Pretty much everything, I guess.” Cosima twisted her head around, cheek brushing against the blonde’s.

Delphine’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact. She worked her mouth silently for a moment before blurting out, “Play something that reminds you of me.”

The surfer’s head bobbed and weaved as she turned her face back to the screen. Fingers darted over the keyboard after only a moment of thought, “Okay, you got it.” Cosima glanced back at Delphine and winked. “Let me just set up another playlist really quick.”

“You seem like a lazy DJ.” She whispered in Cosima’s ear, rewarded with a twitchy shiver.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Delphine chuckled, “Shouldn’t you be—?” She didn’t know much about DJing, but she reached both arms around Cosima’s body and stopped the spin of the turntable anyway— running it backwards for a split second before resting her hands on the table.

The surfer smiled widely, “I usually do—“ she gestured to Delphine’s poor impersonation, poking fun, “whatever that was supposed to be.”

“But not tonight?”

Cosima clicked a few buttons and spun quickly in Delphine’s arms, leaning back against the edge of the table, hiking an elbow up onto the beat machine behind her, “Not when hot French girls distract me.”

A slow smile spread over Delphine’s face, “Does that happen often?”

“It didn’t, until recently.” Cosima’s eyes dropped to her lips.

She felt her stomach do a summersault, “You are going to kiss me again, aren’t you?”

Cosima had begun nodding her head halfway through the question and as soon as the last word was uttered, the shorter girl was up on tip-toes, breathing against Delphine. She tightened her hold around Cosima’s waist, her lips parting expectantly. Cosima teased her, moving closer and pulling away as soon as Delphine surged forward to close the distance between them. She craned her neck away twice before her fingers tangled in the waves of hair at the nape of the blonde’s neck and drew Delphine in to a slow kiss that left the tall girl breathless.

_Cuizinier, avec ton petit'sexe entouré de poils roux_  
_Je n'arrive pas à croire que tu puisses croire qu'on veuille de toi._  
_Je n'y crois pas même dans l'noir, même si tu gardes ton pyjama_  
_Même si tu gardes ton peignoir en forme de T-shirt ringard._  
_Garde ta chemise, ça limitera les dégâts, bâtard._

Delphine’s lips ripped from Cosima’s and threw her head back laughing. “What is this?!”

Cosima smiled melted forward against Delphine’s chest, “You told me to pick a song that reminded me of you!” She laughed into the blonde’s collarbone.

“Do you even know what this is?!” Delphine reached up and held the DJ’s cheeks between her palms, lifting her face, pecking her lips.

Cosima chuckled against Delphine, “It’s French, you’re French! Don’t act like it was a crazy choice!”

“Yes, I understand your reasoning, but do you know what it _means_?” She tilted her head to better make out the lyrics:

_Je veux te voir dans un film pornographique_  
_En action avec ta bite, forme potatoes ou bien frites._  
_Pour tout savoir sur ton anatomie_  
_Sur ton cousin Teki et tes accessoires fétiches._  
_Cuizi, c'est quoi ta position favorite ?_  
_Tes perfomances olympiques mais tu n'as rien d'orgasmique._  
_Tu es tout nu sous ton tablier_  
_Prêt à dégainer mais j't'avoue rien n'y fait._

“It’s the only French song I have! Je veux te voir— it means ‘I want to see you’, right?”

Delphine snorted, “Oui, it does. Do you know the rest of the words?”

In the moonlight she could see the flush of blood tipping Cosima’s ears, felt the cheeks growing warmer under her touch. “No…I thought the ‘I want to see you’ part was enough…” Cosima turned her grin into one of Delphine’s palms and the other slid down her face and neck to rest against her heart, “is it bad?”

“Oh, yes. Very.” The French girl listened for a bit longer:

_Tu rêves d'un Hummer fluo dessiné par Akroe_  
_Mais tu n'as pas l'permis, tu prends toujours l'métro._  
_Superstar d'un soir, ta vie redevient normale après._  
_Pas besoin d'lunettes noires pour te cacher, personne te r'connaît._

Cosima pulled Delphine’s hand away from her face, “You can’t just say it’s bad and then not tell me what it means.”

She sucked her lips between her teeth and shook her head, “Non, I can’t say it out loud.”

“Delphine!”

A chuckle, “Okay, okay,” she took a deep breath, “it is about a rapper from Paris…”

“Yeah?” Cosima was looking up at her with a curious sparkle in her eyes. Delphine took her time continuing, smiling down at the brunette— she didn’t want to forget a moment. “Annndddd?” Cosima slid her hands under Delphine’s sweatshirt, tracing the curve of her sides with playful fingers.

“She’s singing about his penis.” Delphine groaned, flopping her arms down in defeat.

Cosima’s jaw dropped and she pulled her hands back quickly, “His DICK?”

“Petit'sexe—“

“His SMALL dick?!”

Delphine laughed, “She’s making fun of him. She says it’s misshapen, and…” she listened for a few more bars, “she’s talking about how bad he is in bed, how he can never make a woman…ehh…” Delphine ducked her head as a blush spread over her cheeks.

“Orgasm? He can never make a woman orgasm?” Cosima’s smile was wide and open-mouthed, she reached forward again and dug her fingertips into the blonde’s ribs.

“Oui— tu n'as rien d'orgasmique.”

The DJ laughed, “That’s amazing. What else?”

Delphine shrugged, “He’s too drunk to _perform_ …she raps better than he does…”

“It’s a blast track.”

She nodded, “Yes, very much so.”

Cosima licked her lips, “That’s great. Not exactly the message I wanted to send, though.”

Delphine felt a swell of courage when Cosima pinned her with a sultry look, “‘I want to see you’…is that the message you wanted to send?”

“Yes,” the brunette rose onto the balls of her feet to whisper in Delphine’s ear, “Je veux te voir.” The pressure of her finger softened and she lowered them enough to slip under the taller girl’s shirt. Delphine’s eyes fluttered closed when Cosima flattened her palms against warm, bare skin.

“Oh…” The smile spread slowly, at first just a twitch the corners of her mouth. Cosima’s French was atrocious, but the sentiment wasn’t lost on the blonde.

Their cheeks brushed together as Cosima turned her face, working her way towards Delphine’s lips. “Oh?”

The word ghosted over her smile and sent a burst of warmth spiraling outward from the pit of her stomach. “Oh,” it was all she could think of to say before her brain short-circuited in the moment that Cosima finally kissed her.

She squeezed Cosima’s hips, pulling their bodies tight together. She lost her balance when the brunette’s tongue darted out against her lips and they crashed into the beat machine. Cosima pulled her hands free from the trappings of Delphine’s clothes to steady them. The weight pressing Cosima into the equipment set the surfer into a frenzy, her hands moving back to Delphine’s body with purpose, fisting her loose sweatshirt, roughly palming her breasts through the layers, blunt nails digging into the fabric.

Delphine’s jaw dropped and the breath rushed from her lungs. Her hands moved from the table to grab hold of Cosima, trailing around to cup her ass, pulling the shorter girl up onto her toes— ensuring there was no space between them. Cosima had hooked her leg around Delphine’s thigh and started squirming against her when a boisterous shout tore them apart—

“Oi!” Sarah was standing in the sand looking up at them with her hands on her hips and a swaying Alison at her side. A tall bearded boy had his arms tight around her waist, his head bent over her shoulder. “You two love-birds seen Beth and ‘Lena?” Sarah dropped her head to the side and her eyelashes fluttered closed when the boy’s lips latched onto her neck.

“Beth and Helena?” Cosima asked, breathless.

“Yeah,” Sarah gestured towards the ocean behind them, “they went out a few minutes ago. I need Beth to take this twat home,” she thrust her thumb out at Alison, “I can’t get any dick if I’m babysitting, now can I?”

Cosima rolled her eyes. “No, I haven’t seen them. I’m sure they’ll be in soon, the water is freezing and they didn’t bring their wetsuits.”

Sarah let out a frustrated groan that lead into a moan, “Shite,” she ground her ass back into the boy and reached over her shoulder to cup the back of his neck, “then you take her home. Cal and I have some…business to attend to.”

Cosima turned sorry eyes to Delphine, “Do you mind?”

“No! Not at all!” She was amazed that Alison was even standing and felt a mounting urge to take care of her. She gave Sarah a thumbs up, “We’d be happy to.”

The girl was already turning, pushing Cal towards a secluded pile of rocks. She shouted over her shoulder, “Great, fantastic, thank you.”

Cosima glanced at the runtime of the playlist and yelled after her, “You have twenty minutes!”

Cal called out, “It won’t take that long!”

Cosima and Delphine scrunched their noses and looked at each other. “Ew.”— they said in unison.

“Bad things have happened to me.” Alison’s slur drew their attention. They trotted down the steps and each took an arm, leading the stumbling girl towards the parking lot.

“Did you guys mix pills and booze again?” Cosima asked, “You two are so dumb. You’ll never learn.”

Alison’s eyes squinted and she pointed an accusatory finger, “Hey! It was fun for a while.” She gave an easy smile and called back to the ocean, as if she’d just remembered— “I love you, Elizabeth Childs!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend of mine requested a one-shot in this universe, if you're into sex and soccercop (or one of the two) you can go read it on tumblr right [here.](http://saint11icarus.tumblr.com/post/119467417283/my-very-very-good-buddy-and-fellow-soccercop)


	7. Chapter 7

_August 17th, 2015. 10:30 PM_

“Do you wanna go back to the bonfire?” They were sharing the center console and Delphine was pressed against Cosima from elbow to wrist. Cosima could feel their arm hair catching with each subtle shift— Delphine’s subtle shifts, anyway— Cosima was as still as a statue, worried that any movement might make the blonde adjust, might make her pull her arm away.

“Don’t you have to get your stuff?”

“The equipment? Nah. Sarah and Cal can pack it all up.” Cosima’s car sat at the exit of Alison’s neighborhood while they patiently waiting for an opening between passing cars. “I can take you home if you want.” She twisted her lips against her teeth, hoping Delphine was willing to go back to the beach— anything to spend a few more hours together. Her eyebrows twitched upward as her mind raced, imagining a goodnight kiss in the French girl’s driveway. Maybe taking her home wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“I’d like that.” Delphine’s arm lifted from the console, raising to mess her hair with long fingers. When it came back down she slid those same fingertips across the bones of Cosima’s wrist. Cosima tried to hide her smile and casually twisted at the elbow to give Delphine access to the fragile skin of her inner arm, her palm. The blonde traced tendons with feather-light brushes. The touch was so charged that Cosima swore she could feel the tickling ridges of Delphine’s fingerprints.

The brunette took a deep breath, “Home it is.” After a beat she slapped her hand against the steering wheel, “Where is home?” Delphine smiled and gestured Cosima to the left. She hit the turn signal and then the gas with equal vigor.

***

_August 17th, 2015. 10:43 PM_

Delphine’s host family had money, they had money like Cosima had never seen. She knew they were well off, but not mansion-level well off.

The blonde’s head flung back with the force of her barking laugh, “It is not a mansion!”

Cosima waggled the hand that wasn’t occupied with Delphine’s, “It’s kind of a mansion. I’m kind of embarrassed that you’ve seen my shitty house.”

“Your house is lovely,” the blonde’s fingers tightened around Cosima’s as her muscles worked to lean across the console, her eyes dropping to smiling lips.

Cosima’s tongue darted out in reflex, “Uh, yeah, I guess…” she scrambled to collect her thoughts, “my family would probably live in a nicer place if we didn’t spend all of our cash on board wax and tattoos.” Delphine was humming, her head bobbing, Cosima wasn’t even sure the other girl had registered her words.

“Cosima?”

“Hmm?” It came out a squeak. She cleared her throat.

Delphine bit her smile, “Are you going to come inside?”

“Inside?”

The blonde hadn’t stopped nodding, hadn’t pulled her hazel eyes from Cosima’s mouth, “Oui, inside my house.” Cosima sputtered for a moment, tearing her gaze away from Delphine’s face to look straight out the windshield. She could feel a thumb running across the back of her hand. Delphine leaned even closer and whispered in Cosima’s ear, “What happened to ‘je veux te voir’?”

Her head jerked back, their faces nearly colliding, “I still want to voir.”

Delphine chuckled and untangled their mess of knuckles. She reached up to brush the pad of her thumb over Cosima’s chin. Her sultry purr sent a shiver straight down Cosima’s spine, “I want to voir also.”

Something snapped in Cosima, the words struck her between the hips and her nervous energy dissipated immediately. “Yes, voir, right now, let’s…fuckin’…do that…” she mumbled, fumbling with the handle and shoving the creaking door open. She could hear Delphine’s unrestrained laugh, the open and shut of the passenger’s door. The rounded the front of the car at the same time, knocking into each other’s sides as they jogged up the steps.

Cosima was already searching the tight pockets of Delphine’s jeans when they reached the front door. “Front left, front left,” the French girl was hissing, turning and grabbing Cosima by the cheeks, pulling her into a desperate kiss.

The brunette pressed Delphine’s back to the door, nipping her lips and twisting fingers in the pocket, “It’s not—“ there wasn’t enough room for her breathless words between them.

“Non, la petite poche.” Delphine reached up to pull off Cosima’s beanie, fingers burying deep in her dreads as soon as they spilled free.

Cosima moaned quietly, it tapered off into a frustrated growl. “I have no fucking,” their kiss broke her sentence in half, “idea what that means.”

Delphine dropped both hands down to grab Cosima’s wrists, moving them to her belt buckle. She produced the key herself only a heartbeat later and pulled her lips away to look down at the lock. Cosima unclasped the belt and spun to fit tight against Delphine’s back with a fist bunched in the taller girl’s shirt. She tugged it down and stood on tip-toes to kiss at the exposed skin stretched over the knot in Delphine’s spine. It took an eternity for Delphine to get the door unlocked with Cosima’s free hand reaching around and deftly unbuttoning her jeans. Their hands closed over the knob in unison and they twisted together, shoving it open and bursting inside. They kicked off shoes and their lips found each other as soon as their shirts were lifted over their heads and discarded on the floor.

Cosima felt blindly behind her. She dragged her hands along the wall on either side of the door, looking for a light switch. Delphine seemed to have other ideas, pulling her forward by the waist of her shorts. Her foot landed on the blonde’s shirt and she slid along the floor, right into Delphine’s arms. “Fuck, sorry, I can’t see anything.”

Delphine laughed and grabbed her hands. Cosima let herself be led along through the house to a set of stairs, taking each step slowly. Their height difference was flipped as Delphine backed down the stairs, Cosima could make out her ethereal hair in the darkness as she leaned forward to press kisses to the tanned stomach in front of her. The surfer groaned, her fingers tightening in tresses, tips digging into Delphine’s scalp. She felt the hot puff of air that the blonde released against her navel in response to her gentle tugging. Soon Delphine’s walking slowed further and Cosima got shorter and shorter as the stairs ran out until her vision was filled with Delphine’s clavicle and the milky expanse of her throat. “Come on,” The blonde led her further into the room at the bottom of the stairs, “this is my bedroom.”

“I’m sure it’s cool, can’t see it though. Lights?”

Delphine made an uneasy humming noise, “No lights.”

Cosima scoffed, “Please don’t tell me you’re self conscious?” When Delphine let out an awkward grunt, Cosima took her by the hips and kissed her firmly, “You are so gorgeous,” she whispered, “you have nothing to feel uncomfortable about.”

She could make out Delphine biting down on her bottom lip, shaking her head. “No lights.” The blonde pulled her deeper into the room and held her steady as she knocked into furniture.

Cosima felt fabric against the outside of her knee, she pressed into it and felt the familiar give of a mattress, “The bed?”

Delphine’s head bobbed, “Oui.”

Her hands fell to the girl’s jeans, unbuttoned, but still zipped. She teasingly brushed her lips over Delphine’s as her fingers slid the closure open. She trailed her fingers along the denim waistband and laid gentle touches up the blonde’s back until she reached the clasp of Delphine’s bra. “Do you want this off?”

“Yes.” Delphine’s tongue darted out to wet her lips and caught Cosima’s as well.

The brunette smiled, her eyes were adjusting to the darkness. There was something beautiful about the way the moonlight coming in from the small windows set high up on the walls painted Delphine’s skin a cool blue. She slid her index finger under the clasp and pinched with her thumb and middle— it sprung open.

“You’re very good at that.”

Cosima chuckled, “Most girls are.”

Delphine’s lips quirked, “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

“Lay down,” Cosima whispered as she slid the bra straps off of Delphine’s sharp shoulders.

The blonde sat on the edge of the bed and gripped Cosima’s sides with both hands. She slid her palms up to Cosima’s breasts, roughing against her sports bra, “Will you take this off?”

“Yeah, sure.” She crossed her arms and lifted it by the hem. The fabric pulled over her eyes just in time to see Delphine’s jaw go slack. “You alright?”

Delphine ducked her head, nodding, “Oui, je suis désolé.”

“You don’t have to voir…”

A laugh bubbled from Delphine’s mouth and she looked up, catching Cosima’s gaze, “I want to voir— a little too much, I think.”

Cosima smirked and reached for Delphine’s wrists, “You can do more than voir, if you want.” She pulled the shy girl’s hands up and pressed them to her breasts, holding them there with her own. She grumbled a pleased moan and her eyes slid shut when she felt her nipples tense under Delphine’s palms. The hands beneath hers began moving on their own, sliding down to tease her nipples between long fingers, burning holes through her every where they touched. She sighed and smiled, her eyelids fluttering open to find Delphine staring up at her face, drinking in her reactions.

She settled her hands on pale shoulders and moved close enough to slip a knee between the Delphine’s and dropped her head. Delphine was quick meet her in a kiss, to press forward, her tongue eagerly tapping against Cosima’s bottom lip. The surfer drug her hands down Delphine’s chest, brushing her thumbs over excited breasts on the way to her hips. She pushed gently, urging Delphine back further onto the bed and crawled over her when she complied— pressing her knee into the mattress at the juncture of Delphine’s spread thighs, her other tucking up by the supine girl’s hip.

When she rocked forward to kiss Delphine again, the moan that shuddered into her mouth sent a shiver down her spine. Delphine’s heat was radiating straight through her jeans and Cosima wanted to feel it against her fingers. She lifted a hand from the mattress and scraped a path from ribcage to waistband with blunt nails. She played with the edge of cotton panties, peeking up over the denim, “Can I?”

Cosima could hear Delphine swallow nervously before frantically nodding, “S’il te plaît.”

She stilled her motions, “That’s…please, right?”

More desperate head bobbing, “Yes, please.”

Cosima smiled, “Let’s stick to English when it comes to consent, whaddya say?”

Delphine giggled, “I’m sorry, I cannot help it,” she arched her back when Cosima slid a hand into her underwear and twisted around to touch her, “your language fails me,” she gasped, “sometimes.”

Cosima let out a quiet growl, “That’s kind of hot.”

“Mmm,” the blonde was already rocking her hips up, seeking out Cosima’s smooth contact, “maybe you should learn French.”

“You know? I’m seriously considering it.” Cosima lowered her mouth to Delphine’s parted lips, swallowing her quiet moans as she slipped fingers through wet folds. She moved her knee back a few inches to give her hand more room, but was still to tight in the confines of Delphine’s skinny jeans.

“Take them off?”

“Yeah, for sure.” She twisted her wrist and pulled her hand free, smiling when Delphine groaned. “Don’t worry, just for a second.”

“Hurry.” Delphine shifted her weight onto her shoulders and lifted her hips off the bed so Cosima could tug her pants down. As soon as they were around her knees she tried to pull the brunette back over her.

Cosima laughed, “Whoa, hold on. You want them all the way off, trust me.” Delphine whimpered and Cosima continued pulling them down her calves, “If we don’t take them all the way off now we’re going to have to stop later. It’s just easier this way.” She got them off with surprising speed and reached up to drag the blonde’s underwear down as well. “Not a problem at all, see?” She grinned and hopped up onto the bed, bouncing against the mattress.

“Come here,” Delphine’s voice was husky, she hooked her elbow around the back of Cosima’s neck and brought their lips crashing together.

The surfer moaned when Delphine’s slick painted her stomach, the blonde grinding upward. She wanted to stop her, tell her to slow down, that they could take it nice and easy— but when Delphine’s leg wrapped around her ass, the world faded around her until all that was left were the unfocused hips knocking hopelessly against her. She broke their kiss to mutter, breathless, “On top, get on top.”

“On top? You don’t have a—”

Cosima cut her off with a laugh, pulling Delphine’s legs to her sides and flipping them until the blonde was straddling her waist with knees tucked neatly under her arms. The moonlight played over Delphine’s nervous features. “It’s okay, look,” Cosima brought a hand down to where they met at her stomach, splaying her fingers against pubic hair, her thumb expertly finding Delphine’s clit.

“Ohhh,” Delphine’s lip was fast between her teeth, her hips bucking forward.

“Oh?” Cosima smirked, lifting herself up on one elbow and working the bundle of nerves in quick circles. “Do you like that?” Delphine was biting her lip too hard to answer and instead just nodded, her hands moving to Cosima’s ribcage to steady herself. That was all the affirmation Cosima needed, she pressed her fingertips into pliable skin. She slid her thumb further between their bodies to collect more wetness with the intention of, once again, stimulating the blonde’s clit, but Delphine’s hips stuttered and pressed down against her thumb. “Penetration?” Cosima shifted her weight up more, “You like penetration?” She stretched the webbing between her thumb and fingers to tease Delphine’s opening.

“Oui,” the response was shaking, pleading.

Cosima pulled her hand back to adjust and the groan of loss was immediate, “I’m not leaving you,” she whispered, kissing as high up on the blonde’s body as she could manage, shifting from her elbow onto her balled fist to lift herself further. She turned her palm upward and slid under Delphine’s twitching hips. She circled the other girl’s entrance with a fingertip before slipping in to the first knuckle. Delphine’s brow scrunched and she rocked forward, her internal muscles pulling Cosima deeper.

Cosima’s eyes were glued to Delphine’s face as she stroked her inner walls. She made note of the things the taller girl liked and tried to focus her attention on thrusting her fingers in the most pleasurable way. Delphine shook her head in frustration after nearly a minute of desperately working herself against the finger inside her, “I can’t come on top.”

Cosima found that hard to believe, she’d felt muscles fluttering around her fingers. “It’s been like five seconds, give yourself some time. You can’t, or you never have?”

“Quoi?”

“What?”

“What?”

Cosima chuckled, “You can’t come on top, or you never have?”

“I—“ Delphine’s eyes snapped open and she immediately lifted her weight onto her knees when Cosima entered her with a second finger and hooked them around her pelvic bone, pressing firmly against the rough tissue she found there.

Cosima didn’t hold back her laugh, “Oh?”

“Ohh.” Delphine nodded, up on her knees with her hips locked, completely still except for the slow tightening of her fingernails digging into Cosima’s flesh.

Cosima shimmied her hips under the blonde so that she could sit up without the aide of her arm and gripped Delphine’s thigh with the newly freed hand. She drew out each thrust slowly and pushed quickly back in, applying strong pressure while the heel of her palm brushed over Delphine’s clit.

There was no sound, no moan or whine, no panting breath, Delphine’s chest didn’t rise and fall, her hips didn’t twist or swirl, she was utterly unmoving. Cosima drew a nipple into her mouth, flicking against it with her tongue, and released Delphine’s thigh to stimulate the other.

She worked with steady thrusts until the statuesque girl began to quake and crumble, falling forward onto her with enough weight that Cosima had to abandon her breasts to steady them against the mattress. Delphine screamed as she drenched Cosima’s hand. “Fuuuck,” the brunette moaned, dropping her head forward against Delphine’s chest.

“Merde,” Delphine whimpered. Her hips jerked forward uncontrollably.

“Holy watershed.” Cosima cupped Delphine’s sex gently, moving only her fingers in slow, soothing thrusts. “Does that happen often?” She chuckled, pressing awe-filled kisses to the blonde’s sternum.

“No,” Delphine let out a puff of air, a weak laugh, “at least, not recently.” She craned her neck down to nuzzle Cosima’s lips, kissing her softly.

“That was fucking awesome.” Cosima’s grin was wide enough to hurt her cheeks.

“Don’t brag.” Delphine groaned quietly, dropping bonelessly onto her side.


	8. Chapter 8

_August 18th, 2015. 7:50 AM_

The spaces between Delphine’s fingers were filled with Cosima’s dreadlocks. The shorter girl hovered over her, settled on Delphine’s lap with arms draped over her shoulders. She dropped her hands to squeeze Cosima’s hips before wrapping around her waist, pulling her closer. The brunette pressed their foreheads together and looked down at Delphine with smiling eyes. It wasn’t much of a stretch to capture Cosima’s lips. Delphine felt the happy flapping of butterflies in her stomach when the other girl moaned quietly.

“Guys. Guys.” Sarah’s voice was coming from somewhere, but Delphine wasn’t sure where. She didn’t much care anyway. Thankfully it seemed Cosima wasn’t bothered either, the surfer slowly rocking forward and deepening their kiss.

It was Alison’s tearful “Cosima!” that finally pulled the girls apart. “Beth is missing.”

Cosima whipped her head around, twisting sharply in Delphine’s lap. “What?!”

Delphine’s brow furrowed and she craned her neck to look around Cosima’s body. Sarah had balled fists pressed to her cocked hips and Alison was small and worried, with arms crossed tight over her chest.

“Her mom called me this morning, no one knows where she is.”

Sarah ran a hand through her hair, “Helena was getting cold out in the water last night so she came in, she said Beth wanted to stay and catch a few more waves.”

“Alone?” Cosima frowned, shaking her head, “She knows better.”

“Yeah, well,” Sarah shrugged with her arms, tossing her hands up in the air, “she wasn’t exactly thinkin’ straight last night, was she?”

They were quiet, all holding their breath as if waiting for something. Delphine bit her lip and watched helplessly while Alison broke down in tears. She whimpered through her sobbing, “She would be cracking some stupid joke right now.”

“Yeah...” Cosima shook her head and slid off Delphine’s lap, “ ‘I never think straight— har har’.” She sighed, her tone growing frustrated, “Goddamnit, Beth.”

“Seriously.” Sarah pressed knuckles to her temples.

The bell rang.

***

_August 18th, 2015. 11:00 AM_

A crash of booming thunder shook the windows, rain pounding loud and angry against the glass. English was empty and still with Beth absent. The likable girl filled the room with a palpable energy and without it the space felt hollow. The intercom crackled, echoing from the hallway and drifting in through the open door: “Will Sarah and Helena Manning, Alison Hendrix, and Cosima Niehaus please come to the principal’s office. The Manning sisters, Alison Hendrix, and Cosima Niehaus to the principal’s office. Thank you.” Delphine’s heart jumped into her throat and choked her. She coughed around the sudden lump and swallowed hard, breaking out in a sudden sweat. Impending dread crushed her lungs in furious fists.

“No Beth?” The teacher asked, looking up from the attendance sheet to lock eyes with Delphine.

“Erm, no.” The blonde shook her head.

The greying woman frowned, “That’s very unlike her, is she sick?”

Delphine offered an apologetic smile and a shrug. “I-I don’t know.”

“Hm.” She turned and started writing the days reading assignment on the board.

Delphine flipped open her book and, with a thumb at the bottom corner, fanned through the pages until she found the right one. Julius Caesar. Beth had talked Delphine’s ear off about the play only a day before, it was one of her favorites. Delphine sighed and glanced at the clock before settling into the words.

Time moved too slowly, only ten minutes had passed when she looked up again. She worried her lip and bowed her head to the page.

_What can be avoided_   
_Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?_   
_Yet Caesar shall go forth; for these predictions_   
_Are the world in general as to Caesar._

Another clap of thunder shook the room. Delphine fidgeted in her seat. She strained to listen through the battering of the storm against the building, as if another call over the intercom would bring more comforting news.

_When beggars die, there are no comets seen;_   
_The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes._

“Cosima.” The teacher’s surprised voice pulled Delphine from the page with a desperate jerk. She looked up at the small girl, swollen eyes and wavering jaw, fingers twisted in a mangled mess.

“Delphine.” Her voice broke, came out as mostly air sliding past shaking lips.

The blonde jumped from her chair and rushed forward. Cosima turned from her as she approached and made a move for the door. Delphine followed, biting sharply into her lip. In the hallway, Cosima spun on her heel. “Cosima?” Delphine reached for her, but the shorter girl stepped away. “W-what did they want?” She already knew— somewhere deep in her gut, she already knew.

“Um...” Cosima took a deep breath and thrust her hands into the pockets of her baggy sweatpants, “they found Beth...” Delphine gasped and she closed her eyes, squeezing them tight with every ounce of strength she could muster. “She, uh...” Delphine heard Cosima gulp down tears and clear her throat, “she washed up on the beach a few miles from- from where the party was.”

Delphine buried her face in her hands and exhaled, slow and shaky, into her palms. The air was hot on her face. Her eyes stung with tears. She couldn’t breathe in, her lungs weren’t working— wouldn’t expand. She dropped her hands and looked at Cosima who was chewing on her bottom lip. The surfer’s unresponsive brown eyes were out of focus, aimed down the hall. “Cosima,” Delphine whispered, pleading, full of every apology she’d ever felt and every word she couldn’t remember, “Cosima.”

The brunette blinked, shook her head, crossed her arms. She shifted her weight, rocked side-to-side on her feet. “I’m leaving.”

“I’m coming with you.” Delphine took a slow step toward her and brushed fingertips against her tanned jaw.

Cosima nodded. Tears finally fell and she leaned her face into Delphine’s cupped palm. “I think I’d like that.”

_Cowards die many times before their deaths;_   
_The valiant never taste of death but once._

***

_August 18th, 2015. 12:09 PM_

Delphine might have mistaken the tears that slid to their joined lips for rain were the drops not salty on her tongue. Cosima’s fists clenched in her shirt and pulled her closer until their bodies were as flush together as their mouths were. Their walk up Cosima’s driveway had been cut short when the shorter girl lost her composure at the pressure of Delphine’s supportive hand on the small of her back.

Delphine had urged her up from where she’d doubled over, hands on her knees and sputtering for breath. Long fingers dug into Cosima’s shoulders and pulled at her torso until the brunette was standing again. It was Cosima who had kissed her first, soft and questioning, as if testing to see whether the feeling would ease the ache they both felt.

“Let’s go inside,” Delphine whispered, “we are getting soaked.” She hooked her arm around Cosima’s waist and supported some of her weight as they took slow steps toward the door.

Cosima’s room was electric with petrichor and she grumbled, brushing water droplets from her windowsill, “Fuck, I forgot to close this.” She pulled free the wooden rod that held the window open and it slammed shut, the force of it made the house shake.

“It’s okay...” Delphine spoke, low and calm, her hands coming to rest on Cosima’s upper arms. She bowed her head to press a comforting kiss to the brunette’s shoulder, Cosima’s shirt was wet against Delphine’s lips and it tasted the way it smelled— thickly of hemp and honey.

Damp dreadlocks knocked against Delphine’s cheek as Cosima dumbly shook her head, “It’s not okay. Beth is the best of all of us.”

“I’m sorry.” Delphine slid her eyes closed and rested her forehead against the sharp jut of Cosima’s collarbone where it met her shoulder.

The surfer sighed, “No amount of sorry is going to bring Beth back.”

Delphine moved quickly around Cosima to stand between her tense body and the window. “You are right, nothing can fix this.”

“I can’t feel anything. I should be sad, or angry, but there’s just...nothing.”

The blonde cupped Cosima’s jaw and dropped her head to find the shorter girl for a slow kiss. Brown eyes shuttered closed and Delphine saw the muscles around them relax slightly. She brushed her tongue over Cosima’s lips, urging them open as her fingertips pressed gently into the muscles on either side of the surfer’s spine.

Cosima broke the kiss to whisper against her lips, “Delphine...” Her eyes opened and locked onto Delphine’s

“Shhh,” she hummed, “I can make you feel something.” It was the only thing she knew that she could do, the only thing she felt might help.

Cosima’s eyes slid shut again, and Delphine’s followed suit when the brunette whimpered out a moan in the moment that long fingers found the skin of her stomach. “Okay,” Cosima said quietly. Delphine ran her hands up the other girl’s sides, dragging Cosima’s shirt along until it was being pulled over her head. Cosima helped lift her dreadlocks from its collar and threw her arms around Delphine’s neck as the fabric hit the ground. She met the blonde’s mouth with desperate fervor, rolling against her tongue, nipping at her lips.

Cosima’s weight hung around Delphine’s neck when she moved an arm behind her back to unclasp her bra. Delphine tried to remember the layout of the room, pulling Cosima along in the direction she thought the bed was in. “This way,” Cosima told her exploring tongue, “it’s this way.” They altered course until they tumbled onto the mattress. Delphine blindly slid the straps from Cosima’s shoulders and tossed the bra across the room. Her hands were drawn immediately to bare breasts, kneading the flesh, Cosima’s taut nipples tickling her palms.

The brunette arched into her, arms wrapping around her waist, Cosima pulled the taller girl over her without breaking their kiss. Delphine settled between spread legs. Warm thighs moved her shirt up, grazing against her skin as they slid up her sides, her hips resting heavy over the other girl’s pelvis. Delphine groaned when Cosima rocked up against her, seemingly eager for friction. She leaned on one elbow, tilting her torso to slide one of her hands further between them, her wrist bending sharply when her sweating palm pressed into Cosima’s stomach. Delphine pulled back quickly. Confusion briefly crossed Cosima’s features, but she smiled and even chuckled when she saw hazel eyes glued to the flex of her muscles, tensing and coiling with each roll of her hips. She didn’t stop, instead she roughened her movements, her gaze fixated on Delphine’s slack-jawed expression.

Delphine’s eyes flicked up and she hummed uncomfortably, looking away from the brunette’s smirk. “Hey, it’s cool,” Cosima shrugged, “don’t stop.” Despite the upward curl of her twisted lips, her voice was laced with sadness— a helpless plea. Delphine heard it loud and clear. She pushed down the sudden swell of shyness and pressed her fingertips into Cosima’s stomach as she leaned forward to find the other girl’s lips with her own. She could feel the stretch and pull under her hand as Cosima moved, responding to her working mouth. As soon as she pulled away to readjust, Cosima seemed to falter, “Are you sure about this?”

“Sure about this?” Delphine knelt next to the surfer, her knees digging into the soft mattress.

Cosima dropped flat on her back and stared up at the ceiling. “Yeah, like...”

“Because you are a woman or because of Beth?”

Cosima flinched at the words at glanced over at her. “Both. I guess.”

“I don’t want to think about either of those things.” She lifted off her shirt and threw a leg over Cosima’s waist, settling down over her hips in a dramatic retelling of the night before. Delphine leaned down to whisper in the other girl’s ear, hands gliding over Cosima’s chest, hair falling around them, “It is easy to forget with you.”

Cosima turned her head to meet Delphine’s lips and continued on until she’d flipped the blonde on her back. Cosima nestled into the cage of long thighs, dipping her head to drag her lips over the pale chest beneath her. Delphine let out a quiet moan and slid her hands down to the waist of Cosima’s sweatpants. She moved inside the loose fabric, splaying out across the unexplored skin. 

“Oh,” Delphine stilled when her fingers met nothing but slippery flesh.

“Oh, yeah.” Cosima looked down between their bodies at the place Delphine’s wrist disappeared past her waistband. “I uh, I kind of live in swimsuits...you know? It’s easier to just...”

Delphine smiled and nodded, trailing her fingers through the building wetness. She watched Cosima closely; the surfer had her eyes shut and both lips pulled inward— held fast between her teeth. She drew up the hood of Cosima’s clit, exposing the sensitive bundle of nerves to the brushing pads of her fingers. Cosima’s hips jerked downward and her arms wobbled. Delphine couldn’t help feeling pleased with herself, happily noting the brunette had opened her eyes and they were trained on the fabric tented against her slowly teasing hand. She stretched her neck upward to whisper, “Do you want to lie down?” Cosima’s cheek was radiating heat under her lips.

“What?” Cosima’s head shot up, eyes wide and pupils blown.

Delphine felt the corners of her lips curl, “Do you want to lie down?” Without stilling the movement of her fingers, sliding forward and back, she nodded her head to the side where Cosima’s elbows struggled to hold her weight. Each time her fingertips caught against Cosima’s clit, the surfer jumped.

“Uh,” eyelids fluttered and she tensed again, “uh, yeah.” Cosima eased down onto her side. Brown eyes tracked Delphine’s movement over her body.

“Am I doing this right?” Delphine asked, kissing Cosima’s pulse point and shallowly slipping a finger into her. She could feel the frantic nod and hummed into Cosima’s neck, “Good.”

“Why are you stopping?” Cosima groaned as she watched Delphine’s hand slip free and grip her pants.

“I’m not,” Delphine tugged gently. Cosima lifted her hips and the sweatpants slid down. They caught on her knees, but the brunette freed her legs with a few well placed kicks. “I have just...” Delphine let out a soft sigh, moving smoothly onto her stomach between Cosima’s twitching thighs, “I have just been thinking a lot about this.”

“About this...?” Cosima’s neck was bobbing, her lips were fumbling around the words.

Delphine smiled when Cosima’s arm stretched down to tangle fingers in her roots. “Yes. This...” she urged the surfer’s legs wider and leaned forward to drop a hesitant kiss on the bare flesh where she had expected to find a patch of curls. Her skin didn’t smell like honey and hemp or beeswax; Delphine’s nose didn’t sting with the black powder they had used to make the fountain firework or the salt of the ocean. It smelled like sex— hot and muggy and familiar. It smelled like her bedroom back home on a Parisian summer day after hours of love-making with the neighbor boy, Etienne, or his brother, Xavier. Cosima tasted like sunshine filtered through white curtains and waking up slowly. Delphine took her time drawing in Cosima’s arousal— she woke up slowly.

The surfer’s jaw was stretched open wide, her breathing slow and deep, but ragged. Delphine glanced up to see the other girl staring intently down at her, seemly unaware of anything else. She thought that maybe Cosima liked to watch, and that was okay with her— maybe she liked to be watched. Her confidence grew as Cosima squirmed, as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Delphine pulled Cosima’s hips closer and indulged herself, sliding her hands up to palm the muscles fluttering across Cosima’s abdomen. She licked more firmly, pressed her tongue flat against Cosima’s folds and dragged upward to flick against her clit.

Dreadlocks swayed when Delphine’s fingers met her tongue and dipped inside. “Not a lot,” Cosima whispered, “don’t stop what you’re doing.”

She pulled her fingers back and used the tips to tease. Focused with her mouth, Delphine pulled heated flesh between her teeth, prodded and lapped with her tongue until Cosima was a shaking bundle of energy threatening to burst. She had never imagined it would take as long as it had, but didn’t mind, savoring each buck and twist of Cosima’s hips through the burning ache in her jaw. Delphine locked eyes with Cosima, humming happily around her clit. Cosima came with a series of grunts, each more quiet than the last, holding tight to the back of Delphine’s head to keep the blonde’s busy mouth pressing roughly against her.

Her grip eased and the pulsing of her hips turned to uneven jerks accompanied by pained whimpers, “Too much, too much.” The French girl was loathe to stop, but relented after a helplessly uttered “Delphine.”

Cosima groaned when Delphine finally released her, dropping weakly against the pillows. The blonde slid over her, dragging her body low against Cosima’s sensitive skin. Cosima greeted her like a hero home from some quest with arms tight around her neck and lips eager to praise. Delphine smiled into their kiss, she broke it to whisper happily, “Who would have though I would have enjoyed that so much?”

Cosima snorted a laugh, “And who would have thought you’d be so good at it.” She let out a quiet moan and pushed Delphine off of her, turning her back to the tall girl and pulling a long, freckled arm over her waist. She hummed into the pillows, burying her face in them.

Delphine tucked her legs against Cosima’s, molding around her. She skimmed her lips across the back of the brunette’s shoulders and nuzzled close, letting her eyes shut and her muscles relax. Cosima’s breathing evened out slowly and the twitches of her pelvis came to a stop. Delphine thought she had fallen asleep, but Cosima pressed her face deeper into a pillow and Delphine could hear her sniffle.

“You should be with your friends.” She whispered to a shoulder blade, slowly becoming rigid with tension that hadn’t left for long. “They will need you...now more than ever.”

“Yeah.” Cosima sighed and sniffed back more tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People like to say that I enjoy killing characters and that I do it all the time. If you get right down to it, though, this is only the second time I've killed anyone off (as of like this exact moment, I mean). In four fics I've only murdered Beth's face twice, and I'd just like to point out that that's like 50% less than rumors would have you believe.


	9. Chapter 9

_August 19th, 2015. 7:44 AM_

The school was quiet. Normally rowdy students were still or slow-moving at best. Word had traveled. Several kids sat in the entryway with a large ream of paper rolled out over the floor and paintbrushes between their teeth. They were sketching out Beth’s name in pencil, mixing paints, talking low. Others were crying. There was a line outside the counselor’s office of teenagers hugging for long stretches of time and wiping their eyes on their sleeves. Somehow the kids crying the loudest were the ones that knew Beth the least.

Cosima and Delphine sat on a row of benches, shoulders pressed to the glass face of the building. The sun shone outside, having forgotten that Beth was gone for good. It warmed their backs through the windows. Both were stone faced and tired, neither had slept. They’d spent the night at Cosima’s house, kissing through tears. Cosima had laughed and cried through stories, her voice sometimes barely a whisper and other times shouted into the room. Delphine listened attentively, throwing in a comment here or there as she lazily stroked Cosima’s skin.

Cosima felt the blonde’s thumb drawing circles into the back of her hand, pressing into tendons and veins. She dropped her head to the side to drag her mouth across Delphine’s cheek. The French girl turned into her and slotted their lips together.

“Oi, you seen Ali?” They broke their kiss slowly, pulling apart to see Sarah and Helena striding towards them. The twin’s gaits were even— _left, right, left, right, left._ They both had their backpacks thrown over a shoulder, both had fingers wrapped around the strap with white-knuckle grips. Helena’s eyes darted around while Sarah’s stayed downcast; Sarah’s mouth worked while Helena’s lips were pulled tightly between chewing teeth.

Cosima shook her head, “Uh, no. I-I haven’t. She probably took the day off.”

“She’s not at home, and you know damn well that Ali doesn’t take days off.” Sarah’s eyes were wet when she finally looked up, glanced over her shoulder at the students preparing the memorial banner. “I’m worried about her.”

Cosima licked her lips and nodded, “Yeah, you’re right... let’s go find her.” She squeezed Delphine’s hand and swallowed, “I’ll try and be back for lunch.”

Delphine shook her head and Cosima’s eyes followed the flow of her hair as it bounced along, “Non, please, go. Don’t think of me.” She returned the squeeze and smiled sadly. Her words from the afternoon before rang in Cosima’s ears-- _”They need you now more than ever.”_

Cosima turned back to the twins, “Where did you guys see her last?”

“We left her place around eight last night.” Sarah muttered.

“She ran out of tears.” Helena’s tongue moved over her wide mouth to wet her lips and Sarah nodded along.

Cosima pulled out her phone, “Don’t you think we tried that, mate?” Sarah growled, snatching the phone away. “We’ve been calling since six. Her mom said she’d already left. Supposed to be coming here, isn’t she?”

Cosima sighed, and took her phone back, “Yeah, alright. We’ll check around. She’s got to be somewhere.” She leaned over and kissed Delphine once more before she stood and followed the mirrored girls straight out the front door.

***

_August 19th, 2015. 8:45 AM_

Cosima could hear the twins before she saw them. Their approach was always audible, even from a distance. The feral growl of Helena’s motorbike followed by the rolling scrape of Sarah’s skateboard was distinct, noticeable, and uniquely _them_. Helena’s sea-foam green bike puttered around the corner, her legs extended out from the sides of the thing, heels skimming just above the asphalt.

“She’s not at the clubhouse,” Sarah called over the engine. Her body was hunkered low just to the left of the back tire. She skitched along behind the motorbike, her right hand gripping tight to the underside of the seat. She released her hold and pushed off the ground with her foot, gaining the speed to pass in front of Helena as they neared Cosima— leaning against her car. The tough wheels of Sarah’s board grumbled along the road.

Helena cut the engine and rolled the rest of the way, walking the bike when it finally lost momentum. “Yes, and she is not at her house either.”

Cosima shook her head, “I didn’t have any luck at the community center. Where else would she go?”

Helena looked between the trees. They’d met near the water and the sound of crashing waves carried. “Maybe she went to the beach.” She looked to Sarah for confirmation.

Sarah’s head dropped low, “Shite, I didn’t even think about that.”

“It should have been the first place we looked,” Cosima sighed. “Get in the car, Sare. Come on.”

Sarah hopped off of her board and clambered into Cosima’s junker. Helena turned the key in the ignition and her motorbike roared to life, she pushed off the ground with both feet, “I know a shortcut.”

“Yeah, we’ll see ya there, Meathead.” Sarah reached out the window and Helena met her fingers briefly as she sped away.

“I hope she didn’t do anything stupid.” Cosima groaned, turning onto the street and stepping down on the gas pedal.

Sarah shook her head, “It’s Alison, she doesn’t know what stupid is.”

“She was in love with Beth...Ali knows all about stupid.”

***

_August 19th, 2015. 9:28 AM_

She pulled into a parking spot next to Helena’s abandoned bike. The blonde hadn’t even bothered to knock down the kickstand— just left it laying on its side against the concrete.

“Ali!” Cosima was shouting before she’d even risen to her full height outside the car, before she’d even shut the door.

“Alison!” Sarah’s bellow sounded like it came from the bottom of her gut and her voice carried much farther than Cosima’s throaty scream.

Helena seemed to appear out of nowhere with soaked clothes and dripping hair. She was covered in sand up to her knees.

Cosima squinted at the shore, “Is she--“

Helena just nodded and pointed out to sea. Sure enough, a black dot bobbed against the horizon. Cosima turned and found Sarah’s shoes on the pavement. The scrappy teen was already on top of the car, tearing at the bindings that secured their surfboards to the roof.

With boards under their arms, the trio took to the path at a jog. Cosima was soothed somewhat by the friction of sand between the wooden panels and the soles of her feet. It was familiar. She’d run the path a million times— she’d raced Beth down it hundreds... she’d never won, not once. “Alison!” Cosima called out, they had to push hard over the sand just to keep an even pace. Quick movements turned hesitant as they neared the shore and all three girls pulled up short. Anxiety swelled and they stared down four metal poles that were sticking up out of the water, yellow police tape wrapped around them to cordon off the area. Sarah and Cosima dropped their boards to the ground and took cautious steps toward it, Helena trailed a few strides behind until all three of them had cold water coming up over the tops of their feet.

“Fuck...” Sarah muttered under her breath, reaching out with a hand to touch the vibrant ribbon. _Police Line Do Not Cross._

Helena came to a stop at Sarah’s side and rested a hand on her sisters shoulder. “They found her here.”

Cosima walked around to the other side, “They just left this?” The riptide tugging at her ankles was an uneasy lifeline, a reminder of the power of the ocean and the connection she had with it— the connection Beth had once had with it. She had been the strongest surfer out of all of them. Cosima clenched her jaw. Her only comfort came from knowing that Beth would have wanted to die this way, with brine in her lungs and a halo made of seaweed.

Helena was already moving out, dropping her surfboard in and turning to grab the others from the beach. The sounds of their boards smacking against the water drew Sarah and Cosima’s attention. “Alison is still out there,” Helena said solemnly, eyeing them both. The pair spared each other a look before stepping deeper into the tide. The girls nudged their boards forward until they could hop on and paddle out.

The ocean was calm, calmer than usual, as if Beth’s sacrificial blood had mellowed the raging beast. Cosima’s arms cut through the water, just a few lengths behind Helena. She gripped the rails and duck dove under each small wave as they came. Her clothes hung heavy on her, but she swam on. She heard Alison long before she was close enough to make her out with any clarity. Cosima could even hear her mournful keening from below, past the hollow echo of the rushing water.

She broke the surface again. They were close enough this time that when she opened her eyes Alison was detailed. The small girl was curled in on herself, arms hugging her middle, forehead pressed to a board that wasn’t her own. After a few more strokes she pulled up next to Helena at Alison’s side. The board was badly damaged, scraped rough. Beth had loved it more than anything— anything except Alison. An uneasy feeling at seeing it in disrepair settled over Cosima. Beth had cared for it so well. She’d worked countless hours to buy it and maintained it with a passion that kept it looking brand new.

Alison’s face was deep purple and twisted in agony, her mouth wide open, a strand of saliva stretched between her bottom lip and the rolling ocean. Sarah eased to a stop at Cosima’s side and reached out to touch the girl’s goose-bump covered arm. She whispered, “Alison—” The teen shot up at the contact, her hips instinctually correcting for the jerk and maintaining her balance. She looked at them through wide, foggy eyes. Cosima knew the mourning teen hadn’t noticed their approach. “You found Beth’s board...” Sarah’s voice was filled with sad awe as she took inventory of the injuries it had sustained.

Alison’s arms untangled from around her waist, shaky palms coming down flat between her thighs and sliding up to the nose. She nodded, weak, like she had nothing left in her. It took her a few tries to form words, continually interrupted by her own hiccups, “Her mom gave it to me this morning.”

The girls sat in silence, rocking along to the push and pull of the sea for longer than Cosima could reliably judge. Alison had eventually stopped gasping for air. She just leaned forward, pressing her cheek to the rough stick of the board, tears beading up against the wax and mingling with sloshing salt water. Helena kicked around to its nose, her fingertips dragging against it. Cosima and Sarah soon joined her, calves brushing the rails, knuckles dipping into the deep scrapes marring its surface.

“It looks salvageable,” Sarah whispered.

A smile twitched at the corner of Cosima’s lips, “Yeah, tots. We can patch this baby back up. Beth would like that.”

Helena shook her head. “No.”

Cosima’s brow furrowed and she looked over at the blonde who had her eyes trained on a particularly ugly gouge. “What?”

Helena’s gaze moved up to meet hers, “Beth died on this board. We should leave it.”

Sarah settled her hand on Alison’s back, “It’s up to Ali. It’s her board now.”

“It’s not. It’s Beth’s board,” Alison croaked, “it’s always been Beth’s board. It still is now, nothing’s changed that.”

“She’s right.” Helena said firmly, daring both her Cosima and her sister to disagree.

Quiet fell over them again.

***

_August 25th, 2015. 10:10 PM_

The full moon stretched Cosima’s shadow long over the surface of the water. It hung plumb in the blackness, painted by sparse clouds on either side, tickling it’s curves. Delphine paddled towards them; she sat up and twisted her hips to spin Alison’s board to a stop next to Cosima’s, their knees brushing. Cosima shifted her weight, water rocking under her, until her lips met Delphine’s. A coaxing wind teased goosebumps from the napes of their necks, any skin peeking from their wetsuits. Cosima’s lips were warm and salty, and she reached out to steady the board when the other girl melted against her.

Alison watched them over her shoulder, the moon reflected in her brown eyes. “It’s a nice night.” She said quietly.

“Sure is.” Sarah floated beside her, dressed in warm neoprene from arms to ankles.

Helena rubbed the salt from her nose and pointed towards the horizon. “It is your wave, Alison.”

“Yeah…” Alison watched its approach. She moved into a decent position and paddled towards the shore as hard as she could, digging deep into the water. Her eyes closed when it caught her. Her toes gripped the surface of Beth’s board, the ball of her leading foot settling over an open wound in the epoxy finish. She leaned her weight on her back foot and whipped the shortboard around until she was tucked under the lip of the breaking wave. The water churned around her, leaving her in the hollow barrel of the tube. She rode it as long as she could, dragging her hand through water to slow her speed, until it started to close in around her.

She pumped down against the ocean and sped through the shrinking opening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it. We're all done here. On Friday at the regular time I'll be posting the first chapter of Let Me Go, the sequel to my high school AU Cable Car. There is still plenty of time to check it out if you're interested in following the sequel. If you've only got time for Cophine, I wouldn't recommend it (though there is plenty of Cophine), but if you like ensemble pieces, soccercop, soccer in general, or character-driven dramas... maybe Cable Car is the place to be. S'all I'm sayin'. Bury me with that fic. It's the best thing I've ever done.
> 
> Thanks for reading, for your kudos and comments, you were all very sweet and I had a very fun time. Peace!


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